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Effigy of the French president beheaded (warning!)

A guillotine (/ˈɡɪlətiːn/ GHIL-ə-teen, also US: /ˈɡiːətiːn/ GHEE-, French: [ɡijɔtin] (About this soundlisten)) is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at the bottom of the frame, positioning the neck directly below the blade. The blade is then released, swiftly and forcefully decapitating the victim with a single, clean pass so that the head falls into a basket or other receptacle below.


The official guillotine used by the state of Luxembourg from 1789 to 1821. Capital punishment in Luxembourg was abolished in 1979, and the last execution took place in 1949.
The guillotine is best known for its use in France, in particular during the French Revolution, where the revolution's supporters celebrated it as the people's avenger and the revolution's opponents vilified it as the pre-eminent symbol of the violence of the Reign of Terror.[1]
 

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