Jan #16 Odd Facts / myLot

United States

January 16, 2018 2:31pm CST

We've all heard of the guillotine. It was not invented by the French physician, Joseph Guillotine. (1738 - 1814) Supposedly, he only advised the French government to develop a machine that could behead people quickly and "painlessly." He later regretted his advice after learning that the government used the machine to slaughter as many as 40,000 people.

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4 responses

Judy Evans

@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

16 Jan 18

I had no idea so many people were killed in this way. No wonder he had regrets about his invention.

2 people like this

Alice Henry

@IreneVincent (15962)

• United States

16 Jan 18

I think that France continued to use this method into the 20th century. I need to research that.

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topffer

@topffer (42156)

• France

16 Jan 18

He had no regret about the invention, he regreted that his name was given to the invention. Guillotin was a humanist, he recommended the guillotine as the least painful way of killing. @IreneVincent The last execution in France was in the 1970's. The guillotine is still in use in some western african countries, like Mauritania.

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Alice Henry

@IreneVincent (15962)

• United States

16 Jan 18

@topffer Thank you for this information

2 people like this