Dr Guillotin did not invent the guillotine and opposed the death penalty.

1789 · 1792 · apart: 3 years

He only argued that, if executions were to happen, they should be equal and painless for all. He died of natural causes in 1814.

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The event

• First execution by guillotine1792 · Paris. 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.

18th century

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