The guillotine is a beheading machine invented in 18th century France. Its name is pronounced “gee-uh-teen” with the accent on the second syllable. The word comes from the French word “guillotine,” which is itself derived from the name of Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, a French physician who advocated for the use of the machine as a more humane method of execution than was used at the time.
The guillotine was first used during the French Revolution to execute King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. It was also used extensively during the Reign of Terror, when thousands of people were executed. The guillotine became a symbol of the French Revolution and is still used today in some countries as a method of capital punishment.
