Hanging

Hanging is the suspension of a person by the neck by a looped rope or other cord. It is a common form of execution throughout history, as well as a common means of suicide.

Although it is still used in some countries, in the United States, it has declined in use throughout the 20th century after other means of execution, such as the electric chair, gas chamber, and more recently, lethal injection, became more prevalent. The last person to be legally hanged in the United States was Billy Bailey in Delaware in 1996, and he will almost certainly be the last. However, in 1994, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that hanging did not violate the Eighth Amendment.

Prominent People Who Were Hanged

• Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• John Brown
• Adolf Eichmann
• Charles Guiteau
• Nathan Hale
• Saddam Hussein
• William Joyce
• Ned Kelly
• Billy the Kidd