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Narrator:
Tonight, the most notorious
methods of execution...

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Bones breaking, skin ripping,
blood flowing...

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...and the diabolical devices
used to carry them out.

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It's gonna slice through
whatever's in its path.

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From a seemingly
ordinary wheel...

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The execution would weave them
around the spokes of the wheel.

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...to an infamous chair...

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Blood vessels are bursting
in his face.

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It looks like
he's sweating blood.

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...we'll reveal
the surprising origins

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of these lethal objects.

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The darkest marvel of all
is the human mind.

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People get an idea of a way
to be cruel to one another

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and then they build it.

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Narrator:
Not all inventions are made
with good intentions.

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Unlock the twisted history

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behind the world's
darkest marvels.

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Throughout history,
the death sentence,

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that most final
of punishments,

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takes many forms.

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( screaming )

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And one of the most infamous

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begins with an accident.

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Buffalo, New York, 1881.

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A drunken worker named
Lemuel Smith

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touches a live circuit
in an electrical plant.

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( electricity buzzing )

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He got a very heavy jolt

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of electricity
all the way through him,

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and he fell over dead.

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In the 1880s,
the electrical industry

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is very much in its infancy.

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Ordinary people saw electricity
as something magical,

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maybe even divine.

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You've got Mary Shelley's
"Frankenstein",

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where the monster
of Frankenstein

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is brought
to life by a spark.

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At the time,
there were experiments
that doctors would do

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where they would administer
electric current to corpses,

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causing the corpse to twitch.

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So there was this
incorrect assumption

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that electricity had something
to do with powering life.

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So news of Smith's death
travels very quickly.

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This creates
a sense of apprehension.

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People start to realize

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that electricity
is a really lethal

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and potentially
life-ending force.

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Narrator:
And that sparks a thought

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for local dentist
Alfred Southwick.

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Alfred Southwick is living
in Buffalo at the time

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Lemuel Smith dies.

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Seeing the news
of Smith's death,

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which by all accounts
was instantaneous,

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was probably painless,

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gives Southwick some ideas.

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Maybe electricity can be used

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to put people to death humanely
in the United States.

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At the time, the dominant
mode of execution

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in the United States
was hanging.

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There were a lot of people who
were concerned about hanging.

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Bungled hangings had been
turning people off

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of capital punishment
as a practice.

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LaChance:
Part of the problems
with hanging

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were a lot of the time
the neck did not break,

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and as a result, the person
asphyxiates to death.

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Sometimes people are left
dangling for 20, 30 minutes.

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Hangings took too long,

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and they caused
incalculable distress

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to the people that were hanged,

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but also to the people
that had to do the hanging

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and the people that
had to watch the hanging.

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Narrator:
Among the most publicized

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of these botched executions

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was the hanging of a woman
in New York.

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LaChance:
In 1887, Roxalana Druse

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was put to death
for the crime

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of murdering
her abusive husband.

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And because
of her petite size,

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Roxalana doesn't die quickly.

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And this is one of the many
cases of this period

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that galvanizes public
sentiment against hanging.

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Narrator: The state
creates a commission

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to look for alternatives.

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On that commission
is one Alfred Southwick,

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who suggests electrocution.

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They just need
the right device.

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There were a bunch
of different options
that they were considering.

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One of them was
to put the condemned

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in a telephone booth
type structure.

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Another option was to put
the condemned on a table

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and strap them down
to the table

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and electrocute them
in a prone position.

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Now remember,
Southwick is a dentist,

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so Southwick proposes
the dental chair.

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Now in many people's minds,

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the dental chair
is an instrument of pain,

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but in Southwick's mind

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the chair would give
just enough dignity

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so that it didn't look like
the person was a specimen
being operated on.

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But it also wouldn't create
the collapse of the body

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and the dramatic sort
of evidence

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of the violence of the state

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that a standing execution
would create.

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Narrator:
But the chairman of the
commission isn't convinced.

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Mark:
Elbridge Gerry had been an
advocate of using a poison,

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probably morphine, as a means
of capital punishment.

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One of the objections
to executing somebody
with a dose of morphine

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was that it would be too easy,

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that it would be too peaceful,

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that it wouldn't be
scary enough.

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There was still the idea
that executions should serve
a deterrent effect.

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You didn't just want to just
put somebody to sleep.

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You wanted to make it fearsome.

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No one kills other people
with electricity.

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The state would be
the only entity

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that was using electricity
to inflict on death on folks,

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and its violence would have
that kind of godlike,
awe-inspiring authority.

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But Gerry isn't persuaded
by these kinds of arguments,

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so Southwick decides he's
gonna contact Thomas Edison.

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Now Edison was against
the death penalty.

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He saw it
as a barbaric activity

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that humans shouldn't do.

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Southwick wrote
to Thomas Edison and said,

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"Your personal opinions
about the death penalty
don't really pertain.

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While it is the law of the land,
don't we have a responsibility

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to make it
as humane as possible?"

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And that sways Edison.
Edison writes back and says,

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"I would be pleased to speak
with your commission
about electricity."

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Now Edison genuinely cared

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about reducing pain
and suffering in the world,

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but he also had
his own financial interests.

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Edison had started
to really feel the squeeze
of competition

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from a man named
George Westinghouse.

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Narrator:
George Westinghouse is
a Pennsylvania engineer

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who in the mid-1880s

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is promoting a different
form of electricity

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than Edison's direct current.

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It's called
alternating current,

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and Westinghouse's success

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makes the two men
bitter rivals.

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LaChance: Alternating
current is superior

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to Edison's direct current
in a number of ways,

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so to Edison, alternating
current is nothing short
of an existential threat.

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His whole company is invested
in direct current.

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Greg: Edison is convinced
that direct current is safer
than alternating current

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because the voltage
is so much lower.

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Sure, it can hurt you,

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but he says
it's not gonna kill you.

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Narrator: Spotting
the perfect opportunity
to undermine his enemy,

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Edison agrees to help
create the electric chair
on one condition.

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He said the best tool
for the job

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would be alternating
current generators,

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and he even specified,

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manufactured by George
Westinghouse of Pittsburgh.

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What better way to demonstrate

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how unsafe
alternating current is

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than to have that be the current
that's used by the state

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in its execution
of condemned criminals.

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Narrator:
In June 1888,

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the state of New York
approves execution

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by electric chair
as the primary form

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of capital punishment.

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But the state of New York
has still not settled on

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what the current for
the electric chair will be.

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Mark: Edison released
an illustration

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of the first design
he proposed,

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and on that generator
he made a point

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of putting
the Westinghouse label on it.

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Edison starts a rather
gruesome series of tests.

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LaChance:
He convenes a who's who

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in the world of electricity
at these demonstrations,

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and what happens is
by all accounts

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a really horrifying scene.

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Mark: There were many dogs,
several horses,

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a bunch of calves,
all with the goal of
establishing AC

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as the preferred
current of death

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and establishing the correct
amount of current required.

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Well, nobody thinks
this is a good experiment.

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The people
are looking on in horror.

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They're watching these animals
be tortured in front of them.

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Narrator: Despite
the negative reactions,

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Edison hopes
he's made his point.

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And the Edison Company, they're
talking about with delight

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the idea maybe people would
start referring to executions

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by electricity as being
"Westinghoused."

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Narrator:
But as the first live human
to experience it

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is about to find out,
the early electric chair

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is far from perfect.

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Narrator: In early 1889,
after a gruesome

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demonstration
electrocuting animals,

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Edison's campaign to make
alternating current

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power the electric chair
pays off.

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Mark: The experiments
at the Edison laboratory

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convince New York State
that alternating current

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is what should be used in
killing condemned prisoners.

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So Governor David Hill
signs into law a bill

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that funds the construction
of three electric chairs

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for the state's
three prisons--

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Clinton, Sing Sing,
and Auburn.

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Narrator:
The first electric chair
has a sturdy oak frame,

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leather straps
to bind the person

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at the chest, arms,
waist, and legs,

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and two metal electrodes
placed at the head and back.

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When the switch is flipped,
a thousand volts of current

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will surge
through the victim,

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supposedly killing them
instantly.

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Greg: William Kemmler is
the unfortunate first person
to be sentenced to death

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under the state's
Electrical Execution Act.

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William Kemmler has been
convicted of murdering
his common law wife.

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One day,
after a long bender,

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Kemmler came home
and accused his wife Tillie

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of stealing from him
and cheating on him.

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They begin to fight,

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and in the heat
of the moment,

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he suddenly just
stops fighting

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and calmly leaves...

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...finds a hatchet...

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- ...comes back...
- ( screaming )

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00:11:15,542 --> 00:11:19,292
( screaming, crying )

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...and murders her.

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Narrator:
On August 6th, 1890,

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Kemmler is escorted
to the electric chair

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at New York's Auburn Prison.

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He is strapped in.
A mask covers everything
but his mouth.

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He is, by some accounts,

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the calmest person
in the room.

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Everything's secured
and attached to his body

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to send these volts
jolting through him.

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He's been assured
that this is going to be
a rather humane experience.

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LaChance: The doctors
standing next to the chair,

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they have a plan to put
1,000 volts into Kemmler.

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The appointed time happens.
The knock happens.

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The dynamo runs.

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Narrator:
Among his final words are,

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"Take it easy,
and do it properly.

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I'm in no hurry."

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Mark:
They turned the current on.

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It flowed for 17 seconds.

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( electricity buzzing )

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Jordan: Multiple different
things occur

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00:12:17,750 --> 00:12:19,292
when the body
is electrocuted.

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You can have sparks
flying out of somebody.

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00:12:21,625 --> 00:12:23,625
Your eyes could
actually pop out.

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00:12:23,750 --> 00:12:25,333
You're gonna have
a significant amount

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00:12:25,417 --> 00:12:27,000
of muscle contraction,

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00:12:27,083 --> 00:12:28,333
and if they're fighting
against it,

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the amount
of muscle contraction

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could also
cause bones to break.

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But at the end of the day,
if you have enough energy

250
00:12:35,083 --> 00:12:36,708
and it gets to your heart,
it's gonna stop,

251
00:12:36,875 --> 00:12:38,375
and you're gonna die.

252
00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:43,083
LaChance:
Everyone immediately
starts to celebrate

253
00:12:43,208 --> 00:12:45,333
because it looks like
Kemmler is dead.

254
00:12:45,458 --> 00:12:48,750
Men approach what they think
is Kemmler's corpse...

255
00:12:48,875 --> 00:12:50,708
Initially they think,
"All right, that's done."

256
00:12:50,833 --> 00:12:53,000
LaChance:
One person reaches out
to touch it.

257
00:12:53,167 --> 00:12:54,167
( groans )

258
00:12:54,333 --> 00:12:56,375
Then he starts
gasping for breath.

259
00:12:56,500 --> 00:12:58,500
Kemmler is not dead,

260
00:12:58,625 --> 00:13:02,667
and they realize that they
have not completed their task.

261
00:13:02,750 --> 00:13:04,667
Everyone in the room
is appalled.

262
00:13:04,792 --> 00:13:06,250
You have a lot of witnesses.

263
00:13:06,375 --> 00:13:09,167
Narrator:
They recharge the chair

264
00:13:09,333 --> 00:13:10,542
for another attempt,

265
00:13:10,708 --> 00:13:13,000
this time doubling
the voltage.

266
00:13:13,083 --> 00:13:17,167
They amp up the voltage
to 2,000 volts

267
00:13:17,250 --> 00:13:20,250
and this creates
a gruesome spectacle.

268
00:13:20,375 --> 00:13:22,833
He's convulsing,
foam is coming out of his mouth,

269
00:13:22,958 --> 00:13:26,792
bits of Kemmler's jacket
began to smolder
and catch on fire.

270
00:13:26,875 --> 00:13:31,333
It looks like he's sweating
blood as blood vessels
are bursting in his face.

271
00:13:31,417 --> 00:13:34,917
Smoke was rising from
his head by some accounts.

272
00:13:35,042 --> 00:13:38,750
An ungodly smell was filling
the execution chamber.

273
00:13:38,875 --> 00:13:41,000
You have grown men
fleeing from the room

274
00:13:41,125 --> 00:13:42,583
feeling that
they're about to vomit.

275
00:13:42,708 --> 00:13:44,167
By the time they flip it off,

276
00:13:44,250 --> 00:13:46,125
he looks absolutely grotesque.

277
00:13:46,208 --> 00:13:49,875
This has been anything but
a humane execution.

278
00:13:50,042 --> 00:13:52,333
What happened in Auburn
that day was a nightmare.

279
00:13:52,417 --> 00:13:55,167
Reformers had wanted this quick
and painless execution.

280
00:13:55,250 --> 00:13:57,167
What they got was
this eight minutes of hell.

281
00:13:57,292 --> 00:13:59,375
( coughing )

282
00:13:59,500 --> 00:14:01,667
The main problem with
Kemmler's botched execution

283
00:14:01,792 --> 00:14:03,333
was the placement
of the electrodes.

284
00:14:03,458 --> 00:14:05,917
Instead of at the head
and the middle the back,

285
00:14:06,042 --> 00:14:08,583
it should've been placed
at his head and his feet.

286
00:14:08,708 --> 00:14:11,333
That path would've ensured
that most of the current

287
00:14:11,458 --> 00:14:13,917
would've passed near
or through his heart,

288
00:14:14,042 --> 00:14:16,000
which would've killed him
much quicker

289
00:14:16,167 --> 00:14:18,167
than what the botched
execution actually did.

290
00:14:18,333 --> 00:14:20,958
They cooked him
rather than electrocuted him.

291
00:14:23,292 --> 00:14:25,417
LaChance:
So in the aftermath of
Kemmler's horrific execution,

292
00:14:25,542 --> 00:14:28,083
Westinghouse goes on the record
by saying simply,

293
00:14:28,208 --> 00:14:30,125
"They would've done better
by using an axe."

294
00:14:30,250 --> 00:14:32,417
Narrator:
The botched execution

295
00:14:32,542 --> 00:14:35,833
prompts engineers
to redesign the chair.

296
00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:37,833
Later incarnations
of the electric chair

297
00:14:37,917 --> 00:14:39,875
improved upon
that first design

298
00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:42,625
by changing the electrodes
from metal to brass,

299
00:14:42,750 --> 00:14:46,208
a copper mesh was introduced
to the top of the scalp,

300
00:14:46,333 --> 00:14:48,125
and it ensured that
the current path

301
00:14:48,208 --> 00:14:50,042
would actually
pass through the heart,

302
00:14:50,167 --> 00:14:51,750
killing the person quickly.

303
00:14:51,875 --> 00:14:53,833
Narrator: These upgrades
eventually reduce

304
00:14:53,958 --> 00:14:57,667
the chair's failure rate
to less than 2%.

305
00:14:57,792 --> 00:15:01,250
As of 2023,
the electric chair

306
00:15:01,375 --> 00:15:05,042
is an approved method of
execution in eight states.

307
00:15:05,167 --> 00:15:10,042
There are 4,374 people

308
00:15:10,167 --> 00:15:13,917
who have died
by the electric chair
in the United States.

309
00:15:14,042 --> 00:15:15,833
And when
you think about this,

310
00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:18,833
this device that probably
wouldn't have existed

311
00:15:18,958 --> 00:15:22,042
if Thomas Edison
hadn't wanted to damage

312
00:15:22,208 --> 00:15:25,500
the business interests
of one of his rivals,

313
00:15:25,667 --> 00:15:29,667
that that device could end up
killing so many Americans,

314
00:15:29,833 --> 00:15:32,250
it's astonishing
and it's horrendous.

315
00:15:32,375 --> 00:15:35,583
Narrator: Ironically,
Edison suffers his own loss

316
00:15:35,708 --> 00:15:39,667
when his direct current
loses out to his rival.

317
00:15:39,792 --> 00:15:43,083
In the end, alternating current
won the war of currents

318
00:15:43,208 --> 00:15:46,125
because the electricity
that we use every day

319
00:15:46,208 --> 00:15:49,042
is in the form
of alternating current.

320
00:15:49,167 --> 00:15:51,542
Alternating current offered
such an advantage

321
00:15:51,708 --> 00:15:56,375
in terms of carrying electricity
cheaply to more people

322
00:15:56,542 --> 00:16:00,083
that it just left
direct current in the dust.

323
00:16:00,208 --> 00:16:03,500
Narrator: The electric chair
is a stark reminder

324
00:16:03,583 --> 00:16:11,292
that modern technology
can be twisted to serve
unintended ends.

325
00:16:11,417 --> 00:16:12,375
Narrator:
The wheel is often called

326
00:16:12,542 --> 00:16:16,000
the most important invention
in human history,

327
00:16:16,167 --> 00:16:19,250
but for centuries
this seemingly simple object

328
00:16:19,375 --> 00:16:21,333
delivered more
than transport.

329
00:16:21,417 --> 00:16:27,000
It also delivered
excruciating death.

330
00:16:27,167 --> 00:16:29,958
The darkest marvel of all
is the human mind.

331
00:16:30,083 --> 00:16:32,417
And what we see over time

332
00:16:32,542 --> 00:16:34,333
is that people
get an idea of a way

333
00:16:34,417 --> 00:16:36,417
to be cruel to one another,

334
00:16:36,542 --> 00:16:38,250
and then they build it,
and then they implement it.

335
00:16:38,375 --> 00:16:41,958
- ( screams )
- ( electricity buzzing )

336
00:16:42,042 --> 00:16:44,208
So if we start with a wheel,

337
00:16:44,333 --> 00:16:46,125
all right,
a wheel is a wonderful thing.

338
00:16:46,208 --> 00:16:48,375
And then somebody had
this bright idea,

339
00:16:48,500 --> 00:16:51,292
oh, how to make this wheel
more lethal.

340
00:16:53,333 --> 00:16:55,333
The wheel, of course,
was never intended

341
00:16:55,417 --> 00:16:59,292
for men to be splayed on it,
have all their bones broken.

342
00:16:59,417 --> 00:17:01,958
- ( screaming )
- But for 2,000 years,

343
00:17:02,042 --> 00:17:05,292
it was used as a means
of punishment and death.

344
00:17:05,375 --> 00:17:08,625
Narrator:
Known as the breaking wheel,

345
00:17:08,750 --> 00:17:12,292
the exact origin of this
execution device is unclear,

346
00:17:12,375 --> 00:17:14,875
though some historians
trace it back

347
00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:18,500
to a notoriously cruel
Roman ruler.

348
00:17:18,625 --> 00:17:21,458
Commodus is a second century
Roman emperor

349
00:17:21,542 --> 00:17:24,708
who's known to have
a particular bloodlust.

350
00:17:24,833 --> 00:17:26,542
Commodus famously killed

351
00:17:26,667 --> 00:17:30,708
80 lions all by himself
with 80 spears

352
00:17:30,833 --> 00:17:34,333
just to show off how powerful
and masculine he was.

353
00:17:34,500 --> 00:17:38,708
Cord: So if indeed the wheel
was invented by him

354
00:17:38,833 --> 00:17:40,083
for uses of punishment,

355
00:17:40,208 --> 00:17:41,917
it would be fitting

356
00:17:42,042 --> 00:17:44,042
for what we know of him.

357
00:17:45,333 --> 00:17:47,083
Commodus uses the wheel

358
00:17:47,208 --> 00:17:48,458
because he likes
the entertainment,

359
00:17:48,542 --> 00:17:51,250
if you will,
out of the death.

360
00:17:51,375 --> 00:17:54,667
He was a ( bleep ) up guy.

361
00:17:54,833 --> 00:17:56,125
Narrator:
In early versions,

362
00:17:56,208 --> 00:17:58,458
the wheel is outfitted
with iron spikes

363
00:17:58,542 --> 00:18:01,375
that roll across
the victim's body.

364
00:18:01,542 --> 00:18:04,542
Later, a gruesome
variation emerges

365
00:18:04,667 --> 00:18:08,000
that makes very clear
why it's called
the breaking wheel.

366
00:18:08,125 --> 00:18:10,125
After tying a victim
to the wheel,

367
00:18:10,208 --> 00:18:13,708
executioners use a hammer
to break their bones.

368
00:18:15,833 --> 00:18:17,917
There were
essentially two ways

369
00:18:18,042 --> 00:18:20,000
of going about
killing somebody

370
00:18:20,125 --> 00:18:21,500
on the breaking wheel
like this.

371
00:18:21,583 --> 00:18:24,375
One was to do it
from the bottom up,

372
00:18:24,542 --> 00:18:26,667
which is to say to start
at the extremities

373
00:18:26,792 --> 00:18:30,750
at the bottom of the body
and start breaking
the bones going upwards.

374
00:18:30,875 --> 00:18:34,000
That's not the way
you wanted this to happen
if you were the victim.

375
00:18:34,125 --> 00:18:36,542
You wanted to go
from the top down,

376
00:18:36,667 --> 00:18:39,458
which means
that the initial blows
were done to the head,

377
00:18:39,542 --> 00:18:42,042
to the top part of the body,
which is going to
kill you faster

378
00:18:42,208 --> 00:18:43,500
so you suffer less.

379
00:18:43,667 --> 00:18:46,083
So it was usually
an act of mercy

380
00:18:46,208 --> 00:18:48,292
for somebody
to get it top down.

381
00:18:50,542 --> 00:18:54,292
At that point, the executioner
would simply take the limbs

382
00:18:54,375 --> 00:18:59,500
and weave them around
the spokes of the wheel.

383
00:18:59,625 --> 00:19:01,292
Cord: If you've ever broken
a single bone,

384
00:19:01,417 --> 00:19:04,333
you know how painful
that can be.

385
00:19:04,417 --> 00:19:08,958
This would be having
all four of your limbs

386
00:19:09,083 --> 00:19:11,958
shattered so completely

387
00:19:12,042 --> 00:19:14,000
that they could
then be manipulated

388
00:19:14,083 --> 00:19:16,667
and tied around
a spoke of wood.

389
00:19:16,792 --> 00:19:19,667
That is extraordinary pain.

390
00:19:21,375 --> 00:19:23,250
Narrator:
For the truly unfortunate,

391
00:19:23,375 --> 00:19:26,542
the wheel
does not kill quickly.

392
00:19:26,708 --> 00:19:29,375
The point of the breaking wheel,
especially in public,

393
00:19:29,500 --> 00:19:33,333
was to have the largest amount
of visible suffering,

394
00:19:33,417 --> 00:19:35,667
and the bones breaking,
the skin ripping,

395
00:19:35,792 --> 00:19:37,125
the blood flowing,

396
00:19:37,208 --> 00:19:38,667
and the screams
from the individual,

397
00:19:38,792 --> 00:19:40,167
who would not die.

398
00:19:40,250 --> 00:19:44,375
That is what
the executioner wanted.

399
00:19:44,500 --> 00:19:45,917
In one case, we have a report

400
00:19:46,042 --> 00:19:47,917
that somebody lives
for four days

401
00:19:48,042 --> 00:19:51,375
woven onto the wheel
in horrific agony,

402
00:19:51,500 --> 00:19:54,417
but they're kept alive
for that long

403
00:19:54,542 --> 00:19:56,583
in what must've been
to the executioner
and those involved

404
00:19:56,708 --> 00:20:00,250
a real horrible
high-five moment,

405
00:20:00,375 --> 00:20:04,208
but absolutely incredible,
awful pain

406
00:20:04,333 --> 00:20:06,958
for the person involved.

407
00:20:07,083 --> 00:20:09,500
Ultimately what's going to
kill you on the breaking wheel

408
00:20:09,667 --> 00:20:11,708
is not the pain and the agony
of the injuries,

409
00:20:11,833 --> 00:20:14,167
it's the decreased amount
of blood in your body,

410
00:20:14,292 --> 00:20:15,792
and it doesn't sustain life

411
00:20:15,917 --> 00:20:18,250
because you don't have
any oxygen to your tissue.

412
00:20:19,375 --> 00:20:21,458
( screams )

413
00:20:21,542 --> 00:20:23,292
Narrator:
Once the victims do succumb,

414
00:20:23,417 --> 00:20:27,167
their mangled corpses
are left on display.

415
00:20:27,292 --> 00:20:29,708
Jordan: This kind
of execution is public.

416
00:20:29,833 --> 00:20:32,292
You're wanting people
to see this, to hear it,

417
00:20:32,375 --> 00:20:34,000
to be horrified by it,

418
00:20:34,083 --> 00:20:37,167
because people are often
fascinated about death.

419
00:20:37,292 --> 00:20:40,750
There's also an element
of social control

420
00:20:40,875 --> 00:20:44,083
whereby displaying
a broken body on the wheel,

421
00:20:44,208 --> 00:20:47,250
everyone who's looking on
is reminded

422
00:20:47,375 --> 00:20:50,208
that you,
the powers that be,

423
00:20:50,333 --> 00:20:52,750
have the power
to do that to them, too.

424
00:20:52,875 --> 00:20:56,333
Narrator: Twisted tales
of the breaking wheel

425
00:20:56,458 --> 00:20:58,792
reverberate
throughout history.

426
00:20:58,875 --> 00:21:00,333
But the most famous story

427
00:21:00,458 --> 00:21:03,250
may be the legend
of Saint Catherine,

428
00:21:03,375 --> 00:21:07,250
a Christian tortured
by Roman Emperor Maxentius

429
00:21:07,375 --> 00:21:09,625
in the fourth century AD.

430
00:21:09,708 --> 00:21:12,833
Emperor Maxentius was
persecuting Christians

431
00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:14,833
because he wants to unify

432
00:21:14,958 --> 00:21:19,250
the whole Roman empire
in his worship.

433
00:21:19,375 --> 00:21:22,542
Catherine was a young woman,
only 14 years old,

434
00:21:22,708 --> 00:21:26,167
and she had already heard
about Christianity

435
00:21:26,292 --> 00:21:29,042
and persuaded many others
to follow Christ.

436
00:21:29,208 --> 00:21:32,542
And so the emperor
had her arrested.

437
00:21:32,667 --> 00:21:35,500
And first they tortured her
down in the dungeons.

438
00:21:35,583 --> 00:21:38,125
The beat her and starved her.

439
00:21:38,208 --> 00:21:42,833
Then he finally decided to bring
out the worst torture of all,

440
00:21:42,958 --> 00:21:44,333
the breaking wheel.

441
00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:47,500
She was raised on the wheel.

442
00:21:47,625 --> 00:21:48,833
They were ready
to break her bones,

443
00:21:48,958 --> 00:21:50,792
and the wheel fell down.

444
00:21:50,875 --> 00:21:55,500
Joyce:
When she touched the wheel
and it broke to pieces,

445
00:21:55,583 --> 00:21:59,792
finally they gave up in
despair and cut off her head.

446
00:21:59,875 --> 00:22:01,333
Real or not,

447
00:22:01,417 --> 00:22:04,333
because of this story,
the breaking wheel

448
00:22:04,458 --> 00:22:07,167
has been associated
with Catherine so fully

449
00:22:07,333 --> 00:22:10,667
it's called Catherine's Wheel
across time.

450
00:22:10,792 --> 00:22:13,583
Narrator: It remains
one of the more popular forms

451
00:22:13,708 --> 00:22:17,333
of public execution
in Europe for centuries,

452
00:22:17,417 --> 00:22:20,625
until the late 1700s
when the citizens of France

453
00:22:20,708 --> 00:22:23,417
start to question
the barbaric practice.

454
00:22:25,542 --> 00:22:29,500
In 1788, seven years
after Marquis de Lafayette

455
00:22:29,583 --> 00:22:32,833
plays a pivotal role
in the American revolution,

456
00:22:32,958 --> 00:22:37,917
his countrymen are still
being broken on the wheel.

457
00:22:38,042 --> 00:22:41,542
The last person
to be sentenced to death
in France by a breaking wheel

458
00:22:41,667 --> 00:22:44,042
was a convicted murder
Jean Louschart.

459
00:22:44,167 --> 00:22:47,833
People were so angry that
a whole mob rushed forward

460
00:22:47,958 --> 00:22:50,750
and basically rescued
Louschart from this device.

461
00:22:50,875 --> 00:22:55,875
He is pulled off and taken away
by the crowd to freedom.

462
00:22:57,917 --> 00:23:00,292
Rebecca: King Louis XVI
actually ended up

463
00:23:00,417 --> 00:23:04,000
banning the use of
the breaking wheel in 1791.

464
00:23:04,083 --> 00:23:07,167
Narrator: And so a new form
of execution is needed,

465
00:23:07,250 --> 00:23:09,500
one that's more humane.

466
00:23:09,625 --> 00:23:12,875
And among the next
death machine inventors,

467
00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:17,750
a French doctor
whose name is forever tied
to the Reign of Terror.

468
00:23:22,542 --> 00:23:24,875
Narrator:
France, 1789.

469
00:23:25,042 --> 00:23:27,875
Fueled by immense gaps
between the rich and the poor,

470
00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:31,083
a social revolution
is starting to boil.

471
00:23:31,208 --> 00:23:33,750
Since the time
of King Louis XIV,

472
00:23:33,875 --> 00:23:36,958
we are seeing a lot
of excessive spending
coming from the crown,

473
00:23:37,042 --> 00:23:39,708
such as the building
of the Palace of Versailles,

474
00:23:39,833 --> 00:23:42,833
which practically bankrupted
France in the early 1700s.

475
00:23:42,917 --> 00:23:48,167
We are also seeing
a long time period of famine
due to weather crises.

476
00:23:48,333 --> 00:23:50,250
Harvests aren't going
very well,

477
00:23:50,375 --> 00:23:52,000
and France goes
into a lot of debt

478
00:23:52,125 --> 00:23:56,000
because of various wars
against England.

479
00:23:56,083 --> 00:23:58,333
So we're seeing a lot
of people who are hungry,

480
00:23:58,417 --> 00:24:00,542
they're exhausted,
they're angry,

481
00:24:00,667 --> 00:24:02,583
and this is going to kick off

482
00:24:02,708 --> 00:24:04,917
what becomes known
as the French Revolution.

483
00:24:07,875 --> 00:24:10,167
Young: One of the other causes
of the French Revolution

484
00:24:10,333 --> 00:24:12,167
was the American Revolution.

485
00:24:12,292 --> 00:24:16,000
The American Revolution
spread the mystique
of revolution.

486
00:24:16,167 --> 00:24:20,958
It showed an example
of a successful revolution,

487
00:24:21,083 --> 00:24:23,958
and that served as a powerful
role model for the French.

488
00:24:25,750 --> 00:24:27,083
Narrator:
The French Revolution

489
00:24:27,208 --> 00:24:29,875
officially begins
in late spring of 1789

490
00:24:30,042 --> 00:24:33,333
with the formation
of the National Assembly,

491
00:24:33,500 --> 00:24:35,250
a governing body
of the people

492
00:24:35,375 --> 00:24:37,583
meant to represent
all classes.

493
00:24:37,708 --> 00:24:42,000
Kelly: With revolutionaries
now in control in France,

494
00:24:42,125 --> 00:24:46,125
they start looking at things
that would change society,

495
00:24:46,208 --> 00:24:49,125
and one of them even was
how to put people to death.

496
00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:53,083
Rebecca: The major problems
of inequality in France

497
00:24:53,208 --> 00:24:54,500
even extended into death.

498
00:24:54,625 --> 00:24:56,250
The different classes
got different treatments

499
00:24:56,375 --> 00:24:57,500
in terms of execution.

500
00:24:57,625 --> 00:24:59,333
If a member
of the upper class

501
00:24:59,500 --> 00:25:01,333
was going to be executed,

502
00:25:01,458 --> 00:25:03,792
they would get
the most humane way--
being beheaded.

503
00:25:06,875 --> 00:25:08,625
Those of
the lower classes though

504
00:25:08,708 --> 00:25:10,500
were given
really harsh punishments.

505
00:25:10,583 --> 00:25:12,500
These included things
like hanging.

506
00:25:12,583 --> 00:25:14,167
These included things
like drowning,

507
00:25:14,250 --> 00:25:15,667
burning at the stake,

508
00:25:15,792 --> 00:25:16,958
or being put
onto the breaking wheel.

509
00:25:17,083 --> 00:25:20,583
Narrator:
On October 10th, 1789,

510
00:25:20,708 --> 00:25:22,750
a prominent French physician
steps forward

511
00:25:22,875 --> 00:25:24,833
with an innovative idea--

512
00:25:24,958 --> 00:25:27,333
using an efficient
sharp blade

513
00:25:27,417 --> 00:25:30,292
to kill everyone
sentenced to death,

514
00:25:30,375 --> 00:25:32,833
regardless of class.

515
00:25:32,958 --> 00:25:37,542
That doctor's name,
Joseph Guillotin.

516
00:25:37,667 --> 00:25:40,292
Guillotin hated public
executions of any kind.

517
00:25:40,375 --> 00:25:44,708
But he knew there
was no chance in eliminating
the death penalty,

518
00:25:44,833 --> 00:25:48,417
so what he advocated was
at least making the execution

519
00:25:48,542 --> 00:25:50,500
more humane if possible.

520
00:25:51,958 --> 00:25:54,292
The practice of beheading
was far from perfect

521
00:25:54,417 --> 00:25:56,667
because it didn't guarantee

522
00:25:56,750 --> 00:25:58,833
a quick or painless
or clean death.

523
00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:01,333
Sometimes the axe
might be dull,

524
00:26:01,417 --> 00:26:03,875
and it would require
multiple attempts

525
00:26:04,042 --> 00:26:07,083
to actually sever
the head from the neck.

526
00:26:07,208 --> 00:26:10,792
The executioners
would often show up drunk
and miss their mark,

527
00:26:10,875 --> 00:26:13,458
or they wouldn't
swing hard enough and it
would be very messy.

528
00:26:13,583 --> 00:26:15,708
So what Guillotin
was proposing

529
00:26:15,833 --> 00:26:17,875
is we have to create some
sort of mechanical device

530
00:26:18,042 --> 00:26:20,958
that will make it
so any sort of beheading

531
00:26:21,042 --> 00:26:25,083
will automatically be
very clean and painless
and immediate.

532
00:26:25,208 --> 00:26:29,917
Narrator:
The National Assembly agrees
and commissions a prototype.

533
00:26:30,042 --> 00:26:34,500
The project is overseen by
the king's physician
Antoine Louis,

534
00:26:34,583 --> 00:26:39,000
who looks at other beheading
machines around Europe
for inspiration.

535
00:26:39,125 --> 00:26:44,458
The Halifax Gibbet
is essentially a frame
of about 14 feet high,

536
00:26:44,542 --> 00:26:48,917
and there's an axe blade
that's attached
to a wooden piece

537
00:26:49,042 --> 00:26:52,083
that then drops with a rope
and a pulley.

538
00:26:52,208 --> 00:26:54,125
The Scottish Maiden
is more sophisticated.

539
00:26:54,250 --> 00:26:58,625
It works on an arm lever,
and you have the blade drop.

540
00:26:58,708 --> 00:27:00,375
It's a sharper blade.

541
00:27:00,500 --> 00:27:01,708
It is more effective,

542
00:27:01,833 --> 00:27:04,625
and because
it's in use until 1710,

543
00:27:04,708 --> 00:27:08,292
it is an immediate inspiration
for the guillotine.

544
00:27:08,375 --> 00:27:12,167
Narrator:
Though it was initially
called the Louisette

545
00:27:12,250 --> 00:27:13,708
after Anton Louis,

546
00:27:13,833 --> 00:27:15,542
the death device
is soon renamed

547
00:27:15,708 --> 00:27:18,000
after the man
whose idea triggered it.

548
00:27:19,875 --> 00:27:23,000
The first guillotine
is a tall wooden frame

549
00:27:23,083 --> 00:27:26,833
with a heavy blade suspended
at the top by a rope.

550
00:27:26,958 --> 00:27:30,583
When the rope is released,
the blade falls

551
00:27:30,708 --> 00:27:35,917
severing the head
in one swift, fluid motion.

552
00:27:36,042 --> 00:27:39,167
Rebecca: Legend has it,
King Louis XVI
also gave an idea

553
00:27:39,250 --> 00:27:41,417
of how to make the guillotine
even more effective--

554
00:27:41,542 --> 00:27:43,208
make the blade slanted

555
00:27:43,333 --> 00:27:46,875
so it could go in with a
sharper and even cleaner cut.

556
00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:50,250
You have essentially
an 88-pound weight

557
00:27:50,375 --> 00:27:52,542
that's hoisted 14 feet
above the ground.

558
00:27:52,667 --> 00:27:54,667
And released from rest,

559
00:27:54,792 --> 00:27:56,625
it's gonna accelerate
very quickly.

560
00:27:56,750 --> 00:27:59,000
And at the end,
it's moving 15 miles an hour.

561
00:27:59,125 --> 00:28:02,000
It's gonna slice through
whatever's in its path.

562
00:28:02,125 --> 00:28:04,125
In this case,
it's the human neck.

563
00:28:05,583 --> 00:28:07,917
In 1792,
they start testing it out.

564
00:28:08,042 --> 00:28:10,958
So first they release it
down onto bales of hay

565
00:28:11,042 --> 00:28:12,667
to see how
it would slice through.

566
00:28:12,750 --> 00:28:14,583
Once they perfected this,

567
00:28:14,708 --> 00:28:16,792
they went through and
they began beheading animals.

568
00:28:16,875 --> 00:28:18,542
Once they realized
it worked for that,

569
00:28:18,667 --> 00:28:20,250
they began testing it
on corpses

570
00:28:20,375 --> 00:28:22,583
to make sure it would
also work on human beings.

571
00:28:22,708 --> 00:28:24,500
And they tested it
very quickly,

572
00:28:24,583 --> 00:28:26,083
and they ironed out
the kinks very fast.

573
00:28:26,208 --> 00:28:29,292
Within just one week,
the guillotine was ready

574
00:28:29,375 --> 00:28:31,000
for use on live humans.

575
00:28:36,625 --> 00:28:38,792
Narrator:
It's April 25th, 1792,

576
00:28:38,875 --> 00:28:40,542
and a notorious
instrument of death

577
00:28:40,667 --> 00:28:43,167
is about to make
its bloody debut.

578
00:28:43,292 --> 00:28:45,917
The first person
to face the guillotine

579
00:28:46,042 --> 00:28:47,833
is convicted robber
and murderer

580
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:50,833
Nicolas Jacques Pelletier.

581
00:28:50,917 --> 00:28:52,583
Christine: The guillotine
was set up publically

582
00:28:52,708 --> 00:28:54,583
in the square in front
of the town hall.

583
00:28:54,708 --> 00:28:55,875
This was a big gravel pit

584
00:28:56,042 --> 00:28:58,000
where all kinds of
executions,

585
00:28:58,083 --> 00:28:59,958
even some market activity
were happening.

586
00:29:00,083 --> 00:29:02,625
So people are kind of always
coming through this area.

587
00:29:02,750 --> 00:29:05,458
It was really central
in Paris.

588
00:29:05,583 --> 00:29:06,917
Rebecca:
This was such an event

589
00:29:07,042 --> 00:29:09,167
that thousands
upon thousands of people

590
00:29:09,333 --> 00:29:11,667
showed up because they had
heard about this guillotine.

591
00:29:11,792 --> 00:29:13,167
They'd heard about
this new method,

592
00:29:13,292 --> 00:29:14,958
and they wanted to see it
put into action.

593
00:29:16,833 --> 00:29:18,333
Narrator:
The crowd watches intently

594
00:29:18,500 --> 00:29:21,792
as Pelletier is escorted
to the guillotine.

595
00:29:21,917 --> 00:29:24,458
He is secured
into the stocks.

596
00:29:24,583 --> 00:29:26,667
The blade is released,

597
00:29:26,750 --> 00:29:30,167
and he is
instantly decapitated.

598
00:29:30,292 --> 00:29:33,083
It just happened so fast,
many people didn't even
see it happen.

599
00:29:33,208 --> 00:29:37,375
Christine: And the crowd
is not satisfied

600
00:29:37,542 --> 00:29:40,750
because they're used to
the spectacle of torture.

601
00:29:40,875 --> 00:29:45,167
They start getting upset.
It hasn't taken long.

602
00:29:45,292 --> 00:29:47,167
They wanted
a more lengthy execution.

603
00:29:47,292 --> 00:29:49,750
They started to say,
"Bring back the gallows.

604
00:29:49,875 --> 00:29:53,583
Bring back the gallows,"
so that they can see men
writhing in pain

605
00:29:53,708 --> 00:29:56,833
for a little bit
before they finally
go to their maker.

606
00:29:58,542 --> 00:29:59,958
Rebecca: The whole point
of this invention

607
00:30:00,083 --> 00:30:01,750
was to level the playing field

608
00:30:01,875 --> 00:30:04,375
and create a painless
and humane way of death

609
00:30:04,500 --> 00:30:05,833
for all classes.

610
00:30:05,917 --> 00:30:07,792
And instead of people
being happy,

611
00:30:07,917 --> 00:30:09,167
people were actually furious

612
00:30:09,292 --> 00:30:10,875
because they felt
they were missing out

613
00:30:11,042 --> 00:30:13,500
on a grand public piece
of entertainment.

614
00:30:13,625 --> 00:30:17,208
Narrator:
But as more citizens
are sent to the guillotine,

615
00:30:17,333 --> 00:30:20,208
the public's attitude
starts to shift.

616
00:30:20,333 --> 00:30:22,833
What people came to realize
was that the guillotine itself

617
00:30:22,958 --> 00:30:24,667
offered a different type
of spectacle.

618
00:30:24,833 --> 00:30:27,958
People could now watch
many executions in a row

619
00:30:28,042 --> 00:30:30,708
because it made
the process so fast.

620
00:30:30,833 --> 00:30:33,083
The crowds go
for an afternoon.

621
00:30:33,208 --> 00:30:35,167
10, 12 people
would be executed.

622
00:30:35,250 --> 00:30:40,000
Young: Some say it had a
carnival-esque quality to it.

623
00:30:40,125 --> 00:30:43,833
There would be hawkers
or vendors in the crowd

624
00:30:43,917 --> 00:30:46,792
selling food and drink
and souvenirs,

625
00:30:46,875 --> 00:30:50,958
maybe even little models
of the guillotine itself.

626
00:30:51,083 --> 00:30:56,000
People gawking at the murder
of a fellow human being.

627
00:30:56,083 --> 00:30:58,417
We're seeing
so many executions

628
00:30:58,542 --> 00:31:03,708
that the process kind of
restores that raucous

629
00:31:03,833 --> 00:31:07,167
and social tradition
of public execution.

630
00:31:07,250 --> 00:31:11,833
Narrator: As public executions
continue to draw crowds,

631
00:31:11,958 --> 00:31:17,167
those in the front row
begin to notice
something peculiar.

632
00:31:17,250 --> 00:31:18,833
Larissa: Because
the guillotine was so sharp,

633
00:31:18,958 --> 00:31:21,375
there are reports
of a severed head

634
00:31:21,500 --> 00:31:23,167
being so quickly severed

635
00:31:23,250 --> 00:31:26,083
that the eyes
and mouth of the head

636
00:31:26,208 --> 00:31:27,542
would open and close.

637
00:31:27,667 --> 00:31:30,083
And the implication is that

638
00:31:30,208 --> 00:31:32,917
because it was so swift,
so clean,

639
00:31:33,042 --> 00:31:35,000
the neural impulses,
the electrical impulses

640
00:31:35,167 --> 00:31:36,500
were still
going to the brain.

641
00:31:40,292 --> 00:31:42,500
Narrator: Soon the efficient
new killing machine

642
00:31:42,583 --> 00:31:45,375
becomes a symbol
of the French Revolution,

643
00:31:45,500 --> 00:31:47,333
an era that's so deadly

644
00:31:47,458 --> 00:31:50,708
it's referred to
as the Reign of Terror.

645
00:31:50,833 --> 00:31:54,667
Rebecca:
So many people in Paris
got executed a day

646
00:31:54,750 --> 00:31:56,833
that by halfway
through the day

647
00:31:56,958 --> 00:31:59,875
the blade
would've gotten dull.

648
00:32:00,042 --> 00:32:01,917
And what happened
is that people had to

649
00:32:02,042 --> 00:32:04,000
start releasing the blade
multiple times

650
00:32:04,125 --> 00:32:05,667
just to behead somebody,

651
00:32:05,750 --> 00:32:07,917
and so this humane method
of execution

652
00:32:08,042 --> 00:32:09,833
became an absolute horror.

653
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:12,875
Kelly: Initially
the guillotine's victims

654
00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:15,333
were nobles,
they were the bourgeoisie.

655
00:32:15,458 --> 00:32:18,667
Pretty soon though
it's pretty much anybody
who doesn't agree

656
00:32:18,792 --> 00:32:21,542
with those in power
will be sent to the guillotine.

657
00:32:21,708 --> 00:32:26,708
We get musicians,
we get painters,
we get teachers.

658
00:32:26,833 --> 00:32:30,667
Young:
Anybody who might be viewed
as an enemy of the revolution

659
00:32:30,750 --> 00:32:32,500
could be guillotined.

660
00:32:32,625 --> 00:32:36,833
Nobody was safe during
the Reign of Terror. Nobody.

661
00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:40,375
Narrator: Eventually,
even King Louis XIV

662
00:32:40,542 --> 00:32:43,042
is convicted of treason
and conspiracy

663
00:32:43,208 --> 00:32:45,917
and condemned to die.

664
00:32:46,042 --> 00:32:48,333
The ruler who outlawed
the breaking wheel

665
00:32:48,417 --> 00:32:52,833
will meet his end
at the guillotine
on January 20th, 1793

666
00:32:52,958 --> 00:32:56,875
before a crowd of thousands.

667
00:32:57,042 --> 00:32:59,042
Christine: He's there
on the scaffolding

668
00:32:59,167 --> 00:33:00,375
looking out
at all of these people

669
00:33:00,500 --> 00:33:02,000
who are kind of lusting
for his death,

670
00:33:02,083 --> 00:33:04,958
and he finds out that,
of course,

671
00:33:05,083 --> 00:33:06,875
the person that will be
setting the machine in motion

672
00:33:07,042 --> 00:33:10,083
is his former employee
the royal executioner.

673
00:33:10,208 --> 00:33:13,583
Narrator:
Ironically, King Louis XVI

674
00:33:13,708 --> 00:33:17,208
dies by the very blade
he helped design.

675
00:33:20,167 --> 00:33:22,542
By the end
of the French Revolution,

676
00:33:22,708 --> 00:33:24,167
the list of guillotine victims

677
00:33:24,292 --> 00:33:27,250
includes
Queen Marie Antoinette

678
00:33:27,375 --> 00:33:30,625
and revolutionary leader
Maximilien Robespierre.

679
00:33:30,750 --> 00:33:36,167
As nearly as we can tell,
some 17,000 people

680
00:33:36,292 --> 00:33:38,708
were killed
by the guillotine.

681
00:33:38,833 --> 00:33:41,208
Maybe 15% were
from the nobility,

682
00:33:41,375 --> 00:33:44,417
leaving another 85% from
all the other walks of life.

683
00:33:44,542 --> 00:33:48,917
Narrator:
In 1774, the Reign of Terror
draws to a close,

684
00:33:49,042 --> 00:33:52,000
but the guillotine
remains in service

685
00:33:52,167 --> 00:33:54,417
for another two centuries.

686
00:33:54,542 --> 00:33:56,458
Rebecca:
Despite the horror
that the guillotine

687
00:33:56,542 --> 00:33:58,250
came to represent
during the Reign of Terror

688
00:33:58,375 --> 00:34:00,792
in the French Revolution,
it remained France's

689
00:34:00,917 --> 00:34:04,125
only method of public execution,
because no matter what,

690
00:34:04,250 --> 00:34:07,083
it was still seen as more humane
than any other method.

691
00:34:07,208 --> 00:34:10,167
Narrator: France's last
beheading by guillotine

692
00:34:10,292 --> 00:34:13,833
occurs on
September 10th, 1977

693
00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:18,167
with the execution
of convicted murderer
Hamida Djandoubi.

694
00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:21,917
And the death penalty
in France

695
00:34:22,042 --> 00:34:24,917
would be abolished
ultimately in 1981.

696
00:34:25,042 --> 00:34:27,208
So basically
during the 20th century,

697
00:34:27,333 --> 00:34:29,083
we were putting people
into space

698
00:34:29,208 --> 00:34:31,792
while we also still
chopping off people's heads.

699
00:34:31,917 --> 00:34:34,833
Narrator: But the guillotine
is much more civilized

700
00:34:34,917 --> 00:34:36,458
than one of
the most excruciating

701
00:34:36,542 --> 00:34:39,708
and elaborate execution
methods ever conceived.

702
00:34:48,417 --> 00:34:50,125
Narrator:
The electric chair...

703
00:34:54,250 --> 00:34:58,167
...the breaking wheel,
and the guillotine

704
00:34:58,250 --> 00:35:03,125
remain among humankind's
darkest objects of execution.

705
00:35:04,292 --> 00:35:07,083
But they pale in comparison

706
00:35:07,208 --> 00:35:09,583
to one medieval method

707
00:35:09,708 --> 00:35:13,583
that begins with a rope.

708
00:35:13,708 --> 00:35:17,333
One of the oldest forms of
execution is death by hanging.

709
00:35:17,500 --> 00:35:21,167
That is tying a noose
around somebody's neck
and pulling them up,

710
00:35:21,250 --> 00:35:22,833
stringing them up
until they strangle to death.

711
00:35:22,958 --> 00:35:27,667
There are records of hangings
that go back centuries.

712
00:35:27,833 --> 00:35:31,208
Shelden: The first
physical evidence of hanging

713
00:35:31,333 --> 00:35:34,167
dates from 500 BC--

714
00:35:34,292 --> 00:35:36,375
a person they now call
Tollund Man,

715
00:35:36,500 --> 00:35:40,167
who actually has the rope still
attached around his neck.

716
00:35:40,250 --> 00:35:42,125
There are other examples
in the Bible

717
00:35:42,208 --> 00:35:45,833
and "The Odyssey,"
all sorts of literature,

718
00:35:45,958 --> 00:35:49,000
but we actually have a body.

719
00:35:49,125 --> 00:35:52,875
Larissa:
Because hanging could be
achieved almost anywhere,

720
00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:55,375
over a tree limb,
over a beam,

721
00:35:55,542 --> 00:35:59,500
hanging is very easy
and very common.

722
00:35:59,625 --> 00:36:02,667
But towards the 13th, 14th,
and then 15th centuries

723
00:36:02,792 --> 00:36:06,667
in England
in continental Europe,
hanging becomes a spectacle.

724
00:36:06,750 --> 00:36:10,708
It is a public performance
of state sponsored execution.

725
00:36:10,875 --> 00:36:14,167
As a consequence, some of
those sights of execution

726
00:36:14,250 --> 00:36:16,333
become permanent structures.

727
00:36:16,500 --> 00:36:19,917
By the Middle Ages,
gallows were being built,

728
00:36:20,042 --> 00:36:21,333
and these were
outside of castles,

729
00:36:21,458 --> 00:36:23,000
they were outside
of fortifications,

730
00:36:23,125 --> 00:36:25,042
often at crossroads.

731
00:36:25,167 --> 00:36:27,750
And this is where
people could observe

732
00:36:27,875 --> 00:36:31,042
the hanged body for many,
many days afterwards

733
00:36:31,167 --> 00:36:32,333
until basically
the birds ate it

734
00:36:32,458 --> 00:36:34,542
or something
along those lines.

735
00:36:36,708 --> 00:36:38,667
Narrator: To give onlookers
a better view,

736
00:36:38,792 --> 00:36:42,792
gallows are often constructed
atop high platforms.

737
00:36:42,875 --> 00:36:45,250
When the lever is pulled,
a trap door opens

738
00:36:45,375 --> 00:36:48,250
allowing the victim
to fall straight down,

739
00:36:48,375 --> 00:36:52,083
being strangled by the noose
and their own body weight.

740
00:36:52,208 --> 00:36:56,000
Larissa:
The laws that you needed to
break in order to be executed

741
00:36:56,167 --> 00:36:57,833
were few and far between.

742
00:36:57,958 --> 00:37:01,500
Murder, theft, counterfeiting,

743
00:37:01,583 --> 00:37:05,833
those warranted capital
punishment, mostly by hanging.

744
00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:08,083
Narrator:
But the most brutal
form of punishment

745
00:37:08,208 --> 00:37:12,292
is reserved for
the highest crime-- treason.

746
00:37:12,417 --> 00:37:15,500
It involves three
excruciating forms of torture

747
00:37:15,625 --> 00:37:18,625
that ultimately end in death.

748
00:37:18,750 --> 00:37:21,083
Hanging, drawing,
and quartering,

749
00:37:21,208 --> 00:37:22,625
this is something unique.

750
00:37:22,750 --> 00:37:24,000
This doesn't happen
nearly as often,

751
00:37:24,167 --> 00:37:25,500
and it's extremely gruesome.

752
00:37:25,583 --> 00:37:27,000
Livingston:
The process of being hanged,

753
00:37:27,167 --> 00:37:28,208
drawn, and quartered

754
00:37:28,333 --> 00:37:31,833
really begins at the prison.

755
00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:35,208
The person
is often stripped naked,
their hands are bound,

756
00:37:35,375 --> 00:37:37,125
and then they are dragged

757
00:37:37,250 --> 00:37:39,125
to the place
of actual execution.

758
00:37:39,208 --> 00:37:41,292
The point of this
is humiliation.

759
00:37:41,375 --> 00:37:43,500
It is to give people
the opportunity

760
00:37:43,583 --> 00:37:47,500
to throw things, to cause
violence to the victim,

761
00:37:47,625 --> 00:37:50,083
and then you start
with the hanging.

762
00:37:50,208 --> 00:37:52,250
Narrator:
Unlike most hangings,

763
00:37:52,375 --> 00:37:55,333
the goal at this stage
isn't death.

764
00:37:55,417 --> 00:37:56,708
Livingston:
The idea here instead

765
00:37:56,833 --> 00:37:58,542
is to put the noose around
and tighten it

766
00:37:58,708 --> 00:38:02,000
and lift the body
so that they are choking.

767
00:38:02,125 --> 00:38:04,958
You want to bring them
right to the point of death

768
00:38:05,042 --> 00:38:10,292
and then bring them down
so that they're still alive.

769
00:38:10,375 --> 00:38:14,167
And now you begin
the next stage.

770
00:38:14,292 --> 00:38:16,375
Now the drawing part
of this punishment

771
00:38:16,542 --> 00:38:17,917
basically had two methods.

772
00:38:19,583 --> 00:38:21,500
One is you are
literally being drawn

773
00:38:21,667 --> 00:38:24,083
across the cobblestones
by being attached to a horse,

774
00:38:24,208 --> 00:38:28,792
or it's going to mean
that you're going to be
disemboweled alive,

775
00:38:28,917 --> 00:38:32,000
meaning that
your organs are going to get
drawn out of you.

776
00:38:32,083 --> 00:38:34,167
Basically,
your body is cut open,

777
00:38:34,333 --> 00:38:36,583
and your intestines
are going to be removed.

778
00:38:36,708 --> 00:38:39,333
Shelden: And then, finally,
came the quartering

779
00:38:39,458 --> 00:38:42,042
in which either a man
with an axe

780
00:38:42,167 --> 00:38:44,208
chopped off
your arms and legs,

781
00:38:44,375 --> 00:38:48,917
or horses were gathered
on four sides of you

782
00:38:49,042 --> 00:38:52,625
and a rope was attached
to your various limbs
and to the horse.

783
00:38:52,708 --> 00:38:55,667
And someone said, "Giddy-up,"
and there went your limbs.

784
00:38:55,792 --> 00:38:59,958
And at that point,
you probably should've
suffered death,

785
00:39:00,042 --> 00:39:04,083
but just in case,
they also then follow that up
with a beheading.

786
00:39:04,208 --> 00:39:08,375
And then usually
the parts of your body
are put on display,

787
00:39:08,542 --> 00:39:12,667
all to say,
"Don't do what this person did

788
00:39:12,750 --> 00:39:15,000
or the same fate
will await you."

789
00:39:15,125 --> 00:39:18,958
Narrator: One of
the best known examples
of this barbaric practice

790
00:39:19,042 --> 00:39:23,333
is the execution
of Scottish knight
William Wallace.

791
00:39:23,500 --> 00:39:27,417
In 1305, William Wallace
helps to lead

792
00:39:27,542 --> 00:39:31,208
a Scottish force that defeats
a far larger English force

793
00:39:31,333 --> 00:39:32,667
in the Battle
of Stirling Bridge.

794
00:39:32,792 --> 00:39:35,125
This definitely puts
a target on his back.

795
00:39:35,208 --> 00:39:39,542
William Wallace is brought
just outside of London
to Smithfield,

796
00:39:39,708 --> 00:39:43,583
he's brought in display of
everybody, and he's hanged.

797
00:39:43,708 --> 00:39:46,417
He's cut down
before he can die.

798
00:39:46,542 --> 00:39:49,250
He is then laid out

799
00:39:49,375 --> 00:39:52,583
and they begin to pull
various pieces off of him.

800
00:39:54,333 --> 00:39:55,583
Larissa:
He is disemboweled.

801
00:39:55,708 --> 00:39:57,042
His entrails are burned
in front of him,

802
00:39:57,167 --> 00:39:59,958
but he is also castrated.

803
00:40:00,083 --> 00:40:03,083
This is meant to wipe out
the lineage of your enemy

804
00:40:03,208 --> 00:40:05,250
and drive home the point

805
00:40:05,375 --> 00:40:07,792
that Scotland has
no future of its own.

806
00:40:07,875 --> 00:40:11,458
After he is castrated,
he is beheaded,

807
00:40:11,583 --> 00:40:15,083
and his corpse is cut
into four different pieces.

808
00:40:15,208 --> 00:40:18,542
Those four quarters are sent
to the four corners of England,

809
00:40:18,708 --> 00:40:21,333
and they're put on display
on city walls.

810
00:40:21,458 --> 00:40:26,083
His head is placed on a pike
on London Bridge.

811
00:40:26,208 --> 00:40:29,167
William Wallace may have been
a famous victim of this,

812
00:40:29,292 --> 00:40:30,875
but he's by no means
the only one.

813
00:40:31,042 --> 00:40:34,500
Rebecca:
The very last person
to actually be hanged,

814
00:40:34,625 --> 00:40:37,917
drawn, and quartered,
this occurred in the 1700s.

815
00:40:38,042 --> 00:40:40,625
But the actual law
for hanging, drawing,
and quartering

816
00:40:40,750 --> 00:40:43,375
wouldn't get outlawed
until 1870.

817
00:40:43,500 --> 00:40:46,250
Of all the executions
out there in history,

818
00:40:46,375 --> 00:40:47,792
hanging, drawing,
and quartering

819
00:40:47,917 --> 00:40:51,458
was one of the most painful
and humiliating ways

820
00:40:51,583 --> 00:40:54,125
one could ever be executed
in the world.

821
00:40:54,208 --> 00:40:56,542
( screaming )

822
00:40:58,042 --> 00:40:59,500
Narrator:
If the history of execution

823
00:40:59,667 --> 00:41:02,625
has proven anything,

824
00:41:02,708 --> 00:41:05,708
it's that there's often
a dark side to innovation...

825
00:41:09,167 --> 00:41:11,042
...and where there's a will,
there's a way

826
00:41:11,208 --> 00:41:14,292
to transform even
the most mundane objects

827
00:41:14,417 --> 00:41:16,042
into instruments of death.

828
00:41:17,375 --> 00:41:18,417
( screams )