Depiction of a native being consumed by a Ya-te-veo (“I see you”) mythical carnivorous tree of Central America, from Land and Sea by J. W. Buel, 1887.
The guillotine is most famous for its role during the Reign of Terror in the 1790s, but did you know that it was used by the French government to execute criminals until 1981?
Other governments have used it, too, including (for a time) the Third Reich.
Jean-Baptiste Tropmann, a notorious French murderer, was executed by guillotine in 1870. You can read about his crimes here.
Image: Exécution de Jean-Baptiste Tropmann. Source: Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée. Via Réunion des musées nationaux et du Grand Palais des Champs-Elysées.
