Wednesday, January 19, 2011
The Guillotine Had A NickName?
Many people thought that calling it the guillotine was bad and that in the end they would have there own head chopped off, so they came up with a nickname for it. The name that was most used was "Madame la Guillotine". A lot of people would say "You have a date with Madame la Guillotine". That was not very nice, that was saying that ladies killed people. Even though the guillotine also killed many woman and children.
Are They Really Dead Right Away?
During the French Revolution people thought it was the quickest way to kill someone.People thought that it was instant death, but is it? It only takes 30 seconds for the blade to drop and sever your head from your body. Some doctors think that it actually takes the time for the blade to fall for you to go unconscious. Also other doctors believe that after the spinal cord is broken it is instant death, but you still are in control of your muscles for about a minute after. So basically it was not instant death and the Royals new that it was not, but they were to afraid to tell anyone. This is what caused disputes in the Royal family.
Monday, January 10, 2011
A Picture of a Guillotine
The execution was supposed to be public, but people thought that it would be fun to show the entire town that you were going to be killed. Famous People that died by the Guillotine
Two people that were beheaded was Marie Antoinette and her husband king Louis XVI. Marie Antoinette is known for being killed by the guillotine. King Louis XVI thought that it would be bad for himself to be divorced so many time so instead he killed two of his wives. Also the man that created the guillotine was beheaded. Most of the people that were beheaded were just common people during the French Revolution.
The Physics of the Guillotine
Basically you would put your head on a head rest and then the man that was holding the rope would let go of the rope and the blade would chop your head off. The time that it takes for the blade to fall is about 21 feet per second, and the actual beheading takes about 2/100 of a second. The blade weighs about 88.2 lbs, the entire things weighs about 1,278 lbs. So basically you could not just take it every where that you went so that people that had to face the death sentence could run away but they would probably be found, that sucks for that guy.
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