Shivers of the 19th century executions

Before using the electric chair and injecting poison, the ancients had devised quite horrible forms of execution of prisoners such as stoning to death, "boiling water", braking or even . using victims make cannon bullets. Before 1887, hanging was a popular form of execution in the United States. However, people discovered it had too many problems.

The length of the wire is too short will not create enough force to break the neck of the crime, causing this person to be strangled slowly. Meanwhile, too long wires will produce too much force and will inadvertently turn into a beheading penalty.

Form of criminal beheading in the past.

The hanging method has many problems.

Therefore, a group of researchers, including Elbridge Gerry, Matthew Hale and Alfred Southwick, have explored and compared 34 different types of torture in the world to find out how to replace hangers.

"Iron coffin" is one of the medieval techniques that lawmakers have studied. Victims will be locked inside coffins with hundreds of iron nails inside. Once the coffin is closed, the victim will be injured and pierce the person with iron nails.

Iron coffin method.

Besides, they also refer to the beheading machines of Japanese, English and French. Punishments such as poisoning, choking, sawing the body and detaching the limbs were also considered but were excluded.

In the end, the legislators concluded that despite many shortcomings, hanging was still the most humane method of execution.

In 1890, the first execution of an electric chair was conducted. Victim is a murderer with axes William Kemmler. He was executed at Auburn prison in New York (USA).

Handle by electric chair.

Dentist Alfred Soutwick came up with the idea of "death chair" after stumbling upon a man who fell into a generator and was killed in Buffalo.

The electric chair practice method has been applied in most US states for decades, until it caused too much controversy.

Electric chairs should still be used in some special cases in eight states without the introduction of poison.

Place to implement toxic injection method.

The gas chamber was a very popular way of death in the early 1920s. Later, the device was considered inhuman and banned in many states.

However, the gas chambers are still used in the states of Arizona, California, Missouri and Wyoming in case prisoners choose it instead of poison injection.

So far, the hanging form has been accepted in New Hampshire and Washington.