First execution by guillotine

Name: First execution by guillotine
Start: 1792
Location: Paris

1792 · Paris · Europe · Politics

Named after a doctor who opposed the death penalty

First execution by guillotine — Thomas Ihle · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The guillotine was first used in Paris on 25 April 1792. Dr Guillotin did not invent it: he merely proposed one quick method for all, and the machine, modelled on older devices, was designed by the surgeon Antoine Louis and built by Tobias Schmidt.

State: French First Republic, French First Republic

Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 18th century

Did you know

Dr Guillotin did not invent the guillotine and opposed the death penalty. He only argued that, if executions were to happen, they should be equal and painless for all. He died of natural causes in 1814. Share →

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