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The guillotine was the device designed for carrying out executions by beheading.

The structure of the device involves a tall, heavy frame from which an angled blade is suspended, with a movable collar at the bottom which holds the neck of the prisoner in place.

Various forms of the guillotine have been in use since the 14th century but the French refined it, introducing the angled blade and using the device almost exclusively for executions until 1977.

The guillotine was proposed by Doctor Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, a member of the Revolutionary National Assembly, in the early 1790s, because he felt that a mechanical device for execution would be more humane.

A member of the Academy of Surgeons, Antoine Louis, designed a functional guillotine, initially called a louison or louisette, which was first used on 25 April 1792.

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14y ago

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