what is a guillotine

A guillotine is a machine 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 guillotine is strongly associated with the French Revolution, where it was used to execute thousands of people, including Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and Maximilien Robespierre. The device was named after French physician and Freemason Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, who proposed the use of a special device to carry out executions in France in a more humane manner. Guillotin was displeased with the breaking wheel and other common, more grisly methods of execution and sought to persuade Louis XVI of France to implement a less painful alternative. Despite Guillotins initial goal of creating a humane form of execution, the guillotine was used to kill thousands of people during the Reign of Terror. The guillotine was also used in other European countries, often for the execution of criminals of noble birth.