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[[Image:guillotine.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Lithograph of a guillotine used in Denmark]]

[[Image:guillotine.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Lithograph of a guillotine used in Denmark]]

A '''guillotine''' is a device used in [[execution]]s, invented by Dr. Joseph Guillotine shortly before the [[French Revolution]].  Most guillotines have a heavy blade that is attached to a tall frame. The blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the victim's head. Dr. Guillotine also envisioned it as being used privately, although during the French Revolution, it quickly gained notoriety as being a public form of execution.<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/19980210233233/http://inventors.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa103197.htm</ref>

A '''guillotine''' is a device used in [[execution]]s, invented by Dr. Joseph Guillotine shortly before the [[French Revolution]].  Most guillotines have a heavy blade that is attached to a tall frame. The blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the victim's head. Dr. Guillotine also envisioned it as being used privately as a means to end the death penalty, although ironically, during the French Revolution, it quickly gained notoriety as being a public form of execution.<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/19980210233233/http://inventors.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa103197.htm</ref>

Dr. Joseph Guillotine envisioned the device as a more humane method of execution.  (Previously, only nobles had been beheaded; commoners had been hung.)  The French government adopted it as the official execution method.

Dr. Joseph Guillotine envisioned the device as a more humane method of execution.  (Previously, only nobles had been beheaded; commoners had been hung.)  The French government adopted it as the official execution method.