Kulit2 Kacang & Info Aneh Unik Lucu dan Menarik: 2009

Top 10 Most Evil Women

We all tend to focus on the evil men in the world and forget some of the truly evil women that have lived. I hope to correct that with this list. Here we have not just serial killers, but other utterly despicable women who have caused tragedy in many people’s lives. So, without further ado, here are the top 10 most evil women in history.

10. Queen Mary I Born: 1516; Died: 1558

Mary was the only child of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon to live past infancy. Crowned after the death of Edward VI and the removal of The Nine Days Queen-Lady Jane Grey, Mary is chiefly remembered for temporarily and violently returning England to Catholicism. Many prominent Protestants were executed for their beliefs leading to the moniker “Bloody Mary”. Fearing the gallows a further 800 Protestants left the country, unable to return until her death. It should be noted that Elizabeth I shares position 10 on this list for her equally bad behavior.

9. Myra Hindley Born: 1942; Died: 2002

Myra Hindley and Ian Brady were responsible for the “Moors murders” occurring in the Manchester area of Britain in the mid 1960’s. Together these two monsters were responsible for the kidnapping, sexual abuse, torture and murder of three children under the age of twelve and two teenagers, aged 16 and 17. A key found in Myra’s possession led to incriminating evidenceCentral Station. The evidence included a tape recording of one of the murder victims screaming as Hindley and Brady raped and tortured her. In the final days before incarceration, she developed a swagger and arrogant attitude that became her trademark. Police secretary Sandra Wilkinson has never forgotten seeing Hindley and her mother Nellie, leaning against the courthouse eating sweets. While the mother was obviously and understandably upset, Hindley seemed indifferent and uncaring of her situation. stored at a left-luggage depot at Manchester

8. Isabella of Castile Born: 1451; Died: 1504

Isabella I of Spain, well known as the patron of Christopher Columbus, with her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon, are responsible for making possible the unification of Spain under their grandson Carlos I. As part of the drive for unification, Isabella appointed Tomás de Torquemada as the first Inquisitor General of the inquisition. March 31, 1492 marks the implementation of the Alhambra Decree; expulsion edicts forcing the removal or conversion of Jews and Muslims. Roughly 200,000 people left Spain; those remaining who chose conversion were subsequently persecuted by the inquisition investigating Judaizing conversos. In 1974, Pope Paul VI opened her cause for beatification. This places her on the path toward possible sainthood. In the Catholic Church, she is thus titled Servant of God.

7. Beverly Allitt Born: 1968

The “Angel of Death, Beverley Gail Allit, is one of Britain’s most well known serial killers. Working as a pediatric nurse, she is responsible for the murder of 4 children and the serious injury of 5 others in her care. When available, insulin or potassium injections were used to precipitate cardiac arrest; smothering sufficed when they were not. Although convicted with death or injury in nine cases, Allit attacked thirteen children over a fifty-eight day period before being caught red-handed. Allit has never spoken of the motive for her crimes, but Munchausen’s Syndrome by Proxy explains her actions. This debatable personality disorder involves a pattern of abuse or harm to someone in your care in order to garner attention (Alitt was known as a child to wear bandages and casts over wounds, but would not allow them to be examined).

6. Belle Gunness Born: 1859; Died: 1931

Belle Gunness was one of America’s most degenerate and productive female serial killers. Standing 6 ft (1.83 m) tall and weighing in at over 200 lbs (91 kg), she was an imposing and powerful woman of Norwegian descent. It is likely that she killed both her husbands and all of her children at different times, but it is certain that she murdered most of her suitors, boyfriends, and her two daughters, Myrtle and Lucy. The motive was greed-pure and simple; life insurance policies and assets stolen or swindled from her suitors became her source of income. Most reports put her death toll at more than twenty victims over several decades, with some claiming in excess of one hundred. Inconsistencies during her post mortem examination; the corpse was reported to be two inches shorter than Belle’s six feet, paved the way for Belle Gunnes to enter American criminal folklore, a female Bluebeard.

5. Mary Ann Cotton Born: 1832; Died: 1873

Englishwoman Mary Ann Cotton is another for-profit serial killer, predating Belle Gunnes by thirty years. Married at age twenty to William Mowbray, the newlyweds settled in Plymouth, Devon, to start their family. The couple had five children, four of whom died of ‘gastric fever and stomach pains’. Moving back to the north-east, tragedy seemed to follow them; three more children born, three more children died. William soon followed his offspring, dying of an ‘intestinal disorder’ in January 1865. British Prudential promptly paid a 35 pound dividend, and a pattern was established. Her second husband, George Ward, died of intestinal problems as well as one of her two remaining children. The power of the press, always a force to be reckoned with, caught up with Mary Ann. The local newspapers discovered that as Mary Ann moved around northern England, she lost three husbands, a lover, a friend, her mother and a dozen children, all dying of stomach fever. She was hanged at Durham County Gaol, March 24, 1873, for murder by arsenic poisoning. She died slowly, the hangman using too short a drop for a ‘clean’ execution.

4. Ilse Koch Born: 1906; Died: 1967

“Die Hexe von Buchenwald” the Witch of Buchenwald, or “Buchenwälder Schlampe” the Bitch of Buchenwald was the wife of Karl Koch, commandant of the concentration camps Buchenwald from 1937 to 1941, and Majdanek from 1941 to 1943. Drunk on the absolute power rendered by her husband, she reveled in torture and obscenity. Infamous for her souvenirs; tattoos taken from the murdered inmates, her reputation for debauchery was well earned. After building an indoor sports arena in 1940, with 250,000 marks stolen from inmates, Ilsa was promoted to Oberaufseherin or “chief overseer” of the few female guards at Buchenwald. She committed suicide by hanging herself at Aichach women’s prison on September 1, 1967.

3. Irma Grese Born: 1923; Died: 1945

Another product of the Nazi’s final solution, Irma Grese or the “Bitch of Belsen” was a guard at concentration camps Ravensbrück, Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. Transferred to Auschwitz in 1943, (she must have shown particular enthusiasm and dedication to the job), she was promoted to Senior Supervisor, the 2nd highest ranking female in camp, by the end of the year. In charge of over 30,000 Jewish female prisoners, she reveled in her work. Her work included; savaging of prisoners by her trained and half starved dogs, sexual excesses, arbitrary shootings, sadistic beatings with a plaited whip, and selecting prisonersfor the gas chamber. She enjoyed both physical and emotional torture and habitually wore heavy boots and carried a pistol to facilitate both.

2. Katherine Knight Born: 1956

The first Australian woman to be sentenced to a natural life term without parole, Katherine Knight had a history of violence in relationships. She mashed the dentures of one of her ex-husbands and slashed the throat of another husband’s eight-week-old puppy before his eyes. A heated relationship with John Charles Thomas Price became public knowledge with an Apprehended Violence Order that Price had filed against Knight and ended with Knight stabbing Price to death with a butcher’s knife. He had been stabbed at least 37 times, both front and back, with many of the wounds penetrating vital organs. She then skinned him and hung his “suit” from the door frame in the living room, cut off his head and put it in the soup pot, baked his buttocks, and prepared gravy and vegetables to accompany the ‘roast’. The meal and a vindictive note were set outfor the children, luckily discovered by police before they arrived home.

1. Elizabeth Bathory Born: 1560; Died: 1614

Countess Elizabeth Bathory is considered the most infamous serial killer in Hungarian/Slovak history. Rumors had circulated for years about missing peasant girls; offered well paid work at the castle, they were never seen again. One of these rumors reached the ears of King Mathias II, who sent a party of men to the massive Castle Csejthe. The men found one girl dead and one dying. Another was found wounded and others locked up. Described atrocities, collected from testimony of witnesses, include; severe beatings over extended periods of time, the use of needles, burning or mutilation of hands, sometimes also of faces and genitalia, biting the flesh off the faces, arms and other bodily parts, and the starving of victims. The victim total is thought to number in the hundreds occurring over a twenty-five year period. Due to her social status she was never brought to trial but remained under house arrest in a single room until her death. The idea that the Countess bathed in the blood of her victims is folklore, and one of the few things she did not do.

Top 10 Unsolved Murders

0 komentar

Every year a large number of murders go unsolved, but some gain such infamy that they remain in the public mind for many years to come. This is a list of the ten most famousmurders in modern history. The one rule I had for this list was that there had be a body – this excludes people like Jimmy Hoffa.

10. Oscar Romero

Oscar Romero was a prominent Roman Catholic priest and Archbishop in El Salvador during the 1960s and 1970s. After witnessing numerous violations of human rights, he began to speak out on behalf of the poor and the victims of El Salvador’s long and bloody civil war. After speaking out against U.S. military support for the government of El Salvador, and calling for soldiers to disobey orders that harmed human rights, Archbishop Romero was shot to death while celebrating Mass at a small chapel near his cathedral. It is believed that his assassins were members of Salvadoran death squads, including two graduates of the School of the Americas.

9. Olof Palme

Palme was a Swedish politician and prime minister (1982 – 1986). The nuclear accident in 1979 at Three Mile Island in the United States had a great impact in Sweden, and Palme contributed to a referendum (passed in 1980) to remove all nuclear reactors in Sweden. After being elected prime minister again in 1982, Palme tried to reinstate socialist economic policies in Sweden, and he continued to be outspoken on matters of European security. He was shot and killed while walking home with his wife after a visit to a cinema. The motive and identity of the killer remain a mystery.

8. The Boy in the Box

In 1957, an unidentified Caucasian male, probable age 4 to 6 years, whose nude body, wrapped in a cheap flannel blanket, was found lying face up inside a large cardboard carton just a few feet from the edge of Susquehanna Road in Northeast Philadelphia. The body was dry and clean. The boy’s arms were carefully folded across his stomach. The finger and toenails had been recently trimmed short and neat. His hair had been cut recently – very close to the head, in a crude, hurried way, perhaps as a deliberate attempt to conceal the child’s identity. Small clumps of cut hair clung to his entire body, suggesting that someone had groomed him while he was unclothed, probably either shortly before or immediately after death. There were many bruises all over the child’s body; particularly on the head and face. All of the bruises appeared to have been inflicted at the same time. Despite recent DNA investigations into the crime, it remains unsolved.

7. Jack the Stripper

Jack the Stripper was the nickname given to an unknown serial killer responsible for what came to be known as the London “nude murders” between 1964 and 1965. His victimology was similar to Jack the Ripper’s. He murdered six — possibly eight — prostitutes, whose nude bodies were discovered around London or dumped in the River Thames. The victim count is ambiguous because two of themurders attributed to him did not fit his modus operandi. Like the Jack the Ripper killings, the Stripper’s reign of terror seemed to cease on its own, and there were few solid clues for police to investigate. Though his identity remains unknown, crime writer Donald Rumbelow notes that the killer could have been a young man who committed suicide in south London. This main suspect, who was also a favorite suspect of Chief Superintendent Du Rose, was a security guard on the Heron Trading Estate in Acton whose rounds included a paint shop where one of the bodies was thought to have been hidden after the crime. Though there was never any hard evidence to link himto the crimes, his family found his suicide inexplicable, and his suicide note cryptically said only that he was “unable to take the strain any longer”.

6. The Axeman of New Orleans

1196750-French Quarter New Orleans-New Orleans

On May 23, 1918, an Italian grocer named Joseph Maggio and his wife were butchered while sleeping in their apartment above the Maggio grocery store. Upon investigation, the police discovered that a panel in the rear door had been chiseled out, providing a way in for the killer. The murder weapon, an axe, was found in the apartment, still coated with the Maggio’s blood. Nothing in the house had been stolen, including jewelry and money that were nearly in plain sight. The only clue that was discovered was a message that had been written in chalk near the victim’s home. It read: “Mrs. Joseph Maggio will sit up tonight. Just write Mrs. Toney”. Almost exactly a month after the Maggio murder came a second crime. Louis Bossumer, a grocer who lived behind his store with his common-law wife, Annie Harriet Lowe, was discovered by neighbors one morning, lying in a pool of blood. The Axeman murdered a total of eight people before the killings stopped. There was no evidence to link the only suspect, Joseph Mumfre,to the crimes.

5. JonBenét Ramsay

JonBenet Ramsays was a six-year-old girl known for her participation in beauty pageants in the United States. She was found murdered in the basement of her parents’ home in Boulder, Colorado, nearly eight hours after she was reported missing. The case is notable in both its longevity and the media interest it has generated inthe United States. After several grand jury hearings the case is still unsolved. In December 2003, forensic investigators extracted enough material from a mixed blood sample found on JonBenét’s underwear to establish a DNA profile. The DNA belongs to an unknown Caucasian male. The DNA was submittedto the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), a database containing more than 1.6 million DNA profiles, mainly from convicted felons. The sample has yet to find a match in the database, although it continues to be checked for partial matches on a weekly basis.

4. Black Dahlia

Elizabeth Short (born 29 July 1924) was a 22-year-old American woman who was the victim of a gruesome and much-publicized murder. Nicknamed the Black Dahlia, Short was found cut in half and severely mutilated on 15 January 1947 in Leimert Park, Los Angeles. The murder, which has remained unsolved, has been the source of widespread speculation as well as several books and film adaptations. Sensational and sometimes inaccurate press coverage, as well as the horrible nature of the crime, focused intense public attention on the case. About 60 people confessed to the murder, mostly men, as well as a few women. As the case continues to command public attention, many more people have been proposed as Short’s killer, much like London’s Jack the Rippermurders of 1888.

3. Andrew and Abby Borden

On a Thursday morning, August 4, 1892, Andrew Borden left home to conduct his business, leaving in the house, besides his wife, an Irish maid (Bridget Sullivan) and his daughter Lizzie. On his return, he settled on a sofa for a nap. About 11:15 AM, Lizzie (according to her testimony) discovered her father dead, repeatedly struck in the head with a sharp instrument. Upstairs his wife’s body was found, even more brutally mutilated; examination proved that her death had preceded her husband’s by an hour or so. It was found that Lizzie had tried to purchase prussic acid (a poison) on August 3, and a few days later she was alleged to have burned a dress in a stove. Sullivan, who also has been suspected, later that evening reportedly left the house carrying an unexamined parcel. No weapon was found, though an axe found in the basement was suspected. Lizzie was arrested and tried for bothmurders in June 1893 but was acquitted, given the circumstantial evidence. She was nonetheless ostracized thereafter by the people of her native Fall River, Massachusetts, where she continued to live until her death in 1927.

2. The Zodiac

The Zodiac Killer is one of the great unsolved serial killer mysteries of all time, taking only second place to Jack the Ripper. Even though police investigated over 2,500 potential suspects, the case was never officially solved. There were a few suspects that stood out, but the forensic technology of the times was not advanced enough to nail any one of them conclusively. The Zodiac murdered five known victims in Benicia, Vallejo, Lake Berryessa, and San Francisco between December 1968 and October 1969. Four men and three women between the ages of 16 and 29 were targeted. Others have also been suspected to be Zodiac victims, but there has been thus far no conclusive evidence to link themto the killer.

1. Jack the Ripper

Traditionally, Jack the Ripper is considered to have killed five women, all London prostitutes, during 1888. The Ripper generally killed by strangling his victims, then laying them down and cutting the arteries in their throats; this was followed by a varied process of mutilation, during which parts of the body were removed and kept. During the autumn and winter of 1888/89 a number of letters circulated among the police and newspapers, all claiming to be from the Whitechapel murderer; these include the ‘From Hell’ letter and one accompanied by part of a kidney. Ripperologists consider most, if not all, of the letters to be hoaxes. Over a century later Jack’s identity has never been wholly proven (there isn’t even a leading suspect), most aspects of the case are still debated and the Ripper is an infamous cultural bogeyman.

15 headlines surat kabar yang menjadi sejarah

0 komentar

New York Times: "Titanic Karam setelah 4 jam menabrak gunung es" [16 April 1912:]

Ini adalah salah satu dari sedikit berita utama yang akurat hari dimana setelah tenggelamnya kapal Titanic. Wartawan di beberapa surat kabar lain masih dalam penyangkalan bahwa Titanic tidak akan tenggelam: The Daily Mirror melaporkan, "Semua orang aman", dan Daily Mail, "Tidak ada kehidupan yang hilang".

Daily Mail: "Keanjlokan Terbesar dalam Sejarah di Wall Street" [25 Oktober 1929:]

Wall Street 1929, dipicu oleh ketidakpastianpertimbangan dari pemerintah mengakibatkan harga saham anjlok ,ini adalah yang terburuk dalam sejarah AS. Pada tanggal 24 Oktober, lebih dari 12,9 juta saham di perdagangkan oleh investor yang panik.

The News Chronicle: "Hitler Tewas" [2 Mei 1945:]

The News Chronicle:
Pada tanggal 2 Mei 1945, The News Chronicle, yang kemudian menjadi Daily Mail, menerbitkan judul yang berani . Pada waktu itu, tak seorang pun yakin kalau berita ini benar. . Artikel yang menyertainya mengklaim bahwa Hitler telah tewas dalam suatu penyerangan, meskipun kemudian yg terjadi adalah dia telah bunuh diri di sebuah bunker bawah tanah di Chancery Berlin.

Daily Mail: "Perang Dunia Ke II Telah Berakhir" [8 Mei 1945: l]

Headline ini muncul pada hari Sekutu Perang Dunia II menerima Nazi / Jerman menyerah. Ini menandai berakhirnya Perang Dunia ke II dan Adolf Hitler's Yang tewas

Chicago Tribune: "Pembunuh Tewaskan Kennedy"[22 November 1963: ]

John F. Kennedy, Presiden ke-35 dari Amerika Serikat, dibunuh di Dallas, Texas. Lima tahun kemudian, saudaranya Robert Kennedy ditembak mati di Los Angeles Hotel.

Daily News: "Martin King Shot to Death: ditembak mati di Memphis" [5 April 1968: ]

Berita mengejutkan ini dicetak setelah Martin Luther King, Jr ditembak dan dibunuh di lantai dua lobi Lorraine Motel, Memphis, Tennessee. Dia adalah 39-tahun

Evening Standard: "The First Footstep" jejak kaki pertama[21 Juli 1969: ]

Neil Armstrong menjadi orang pertama yang melangkahkan kakinya di bulan. Ketika ia menyentuh tanah, dia l menyatakan: "Itu salah satu langkah kecil untuk manusia, satu lompatan raksasa bagi umat manusia."

The New York Times: "Nixon Resigns" [9 Agustus 1974: ]

Presiden Richard Nixon, takut terhadap tekanan setelah skandal Watergate, menjadi satu-satunya Presiden yang pernah mengundurkan diri dari jabatannya. Gerald Ford kemudian memaafkannya, tetapi ia tidak pernah benar-benar diampuni.

The Sun: "Raja Elvis tewas" [17 Agustus 1977: ]

Pada tanggal 16 Agustus 1977, "The King of Rock 'n' Roll" ditemukan tewas di lantai kamar mandi.

Los Angeles Times: "The Beatles John Lennon Dibunuh" [9 Desember 1980: ]

pada hari sebelum Headline ini terbit, John Lennon ditembak dari belakang empat kali oleh Mark David Chapman, seorang penggemar yang telah menguntit dia selama 3 bulan.

City Press: "Mandela Bebas Hari Ini" [11 Februari 1990: ]

Nelson Mandela dibebaskan dari penjara, tempat dia mendekam selama 20 tahun. Pada tanggal 27 April 1994, Mandela dan ANC memenangkan pemilihan multi-rasial.

Daily News: "Diana Tewas" [31 Agustus 1997: ]

Putri Diana meninggal setelah Mercedes Benz S280 menabrak pilar di terowongan Pont de l'Alma , Paris. bersama Temannya Dodi Al-Fayed juga tewas dalam tabrakan.

Daily Telegraph: "Perang di America" [12 September 2001: ]

Pada tanggal 12 September 2001, , hanya satu cerita mendominasi berita utama. Pada hari sebelumnya, teroris telah membajak empat pesawat jet berpenumpang komersial, dua di antaranya menabrak ke Twin Towers dan ketiga ke Pentagon. "Perang Amerika" terpilih sebagai judul yang paling mengesankan dari 100 tahun terakhir.

Times Of India: "Kami melihat air laut datang, kami semua berlari. Tetapi Allah hanya menyelamatkan sedikit "[28 Desember 2004: ]

pada tanggal 26 Desember 2004, gempa di lepas pantai barat Sumatra, Indonesia, memicu gelombang tsunami, yang menewaskan lebih dari 225.000 orang di 11 negara.

New York Times: "Obama: Racial Barrier Falls di Kemenangan Kemenangan" [5 November 2008:]

Barack Obama, menjanjikan perubahan untuk Amerika Serikat, mengalahkan John McCain dalam pemilihan presiden 2008 menjadikannya presiden berkulit hitam yang pertama di amerika serikat. Ia kemudian diresmikan pada tanggal 20 Januari 2009.

The World's Largest Bull

0 komentar

Chilli is a black and white Fresian bull, weighing a whopping 1.25 tons and standing at 6 feet and 6 inches in height. Abandoned by its owner on the doorstep of the sanctuary he lives in today, when he was just 6 days old, back in 1999, Chilli grew up to become the biggest bovine in the world, according to Guinness Book of Records. According to Naomi Clarke, manager of the Ferne Animal Sanctuary in Ferne, Somerset, the bull doesn't eat as much as the other cows and yet he outgrows them by far. He's also abnormally friendly and gentle.

You could say Chilli had a stroke of luck when he ended up in the shelter, because normally he would have ended up chopped into pieces and on the shelves of a meat market somewhere. Now he's 9 years old and the proud owner of the title "Largest Bovine in the World", nice going Chilli.

Game Code by
Toxic Flash

Waria-waria Tercantik di Dunia

0 komentar

Waria itu laki - laki khan?? Tapi kok bisa cantik kayak gini yahh..??? Haduuhh dunia emang sudah anehhh...nih

Waria China

Waria Korea

Waria Singapore

Waria Taiwan,

Waria Japan

Waria Hongkong

Waria Thailand

Nahh.. waria di atas cantik - cantik khan..??? hehe meskipun begitu kalian apa mau..?? aku aja nggak.. ada yg mau nggak..??? hehehehehe..

Nahh, tapi kalo waria Indonesia?? nihhh...coba sama Tidak dengan Waria yg di Luar Negri....Hayooo Cintailah Produk indonesia...!!!

Top 10 Modern Methods of Execution

0 komentar

We have all heard about the various methods of execution used around the world in civilized nations, but quite often we don’t know the methods involved in executing the act. With this list I hope to shed some light on the background of an execution, modern style. All but two of these methods of execution are still in use today. [WARNING: This list includes graphic images.]

1. Lethal Injection

Lethal injection room in Huntsville, Texas

In the short time before an execution by lethal injection, the prisoner is prepared for his death. This can include a change of clothing, a last meal, and a shower. The prisoner is taken to thesaline solution is fed through the tubes. These tubes are then fed through the wall in to an anteroom from where the execution will be carried out. The anteroom contains direct telephone connections to officials who have the power to stay the execution. Once the IV tubes are connected, the curtains are drawn back so that witnesses may watch the execution, and the prisoner is allowed to make his last statement. execution chamber and two IV tubes are inserted in to his arms; a

Unless a stay is given, the execution begins. There can be one or more executioners, and sometimes in the case of multiple executioners, the lethal dose is given by only one so that no one knows who delivered it. The executioners are shielded from the view ofthe prisoner and witnesses. The drugs can be delivered by a machine, but due to the fear of mechanical failure, most US states prefer to manually inject the drugs in to the IV. The drugs are then administered in the following order:

Sodium thiopental: This drug, also known as Pentathol is a barbiturate used as a surgical anesthetic. In surgery, a dose of up to 150mg is used; inexecution, up to 5,000mg is used. This is a lethal dose. From this point on if the prisoner is still alive, he should feel nothing.

Pancuronium bromide: Also known as Pavulon, this is a muscle relaxant given in a strong enough dose to paralyse the diaphragm and lungs. This drug takes effect in 1-3 minutes. A normal medical dose is 40 – 100mcg per kilogram; the dose delivered in anexecution is up to 100mg.

Potassium chloride: This is a toxic agent which induces cardiac arrest. Not all states use this as the first two drugs are sufficient to bring about death.

Saline solution is used to flush the IV between each dose. Within a minute of two after the final dose is given, a doctor declares the prisoner dead. The body is then sent to the coroner for verification and sometimes an autopsy and is released to the family for burial or is buried by the state.

2. The Electric Chair

Electric Chair at Sing Sing

The electric chair was invented by Harold P. Brown who was employed by Thomas Edison for the sole purpose of investigating the uses of electricity forexecution . Brown, a dentist used to working with people in chairs, used a chair design for his device. At the time there was still competition to see whether Edison’s direct current (DC) or Westinghouse’s alternating current (AC) would win the current war. Edison was in favor of using his opponents AC as he thought it would lead people to believe that AC was more dangerous than DC. In fact, it would make little difference which current were used at the voltage needed for anexecution. Edison was so keen to alienate Westinghouse, that he tried to get people to refer to execution by electrocution as “westinghousing” someone. The chair was first adopted in 1889 and the first execution took place in 1890 in New York.

In execution by electric chair, the prisoner is strapped to the chair with metal straps and a wet sponge is placed in his head to aid conductivity. Electrodes are placed on the head and leg to create a closed circuit. Depending on the physical state of the prisoner, two currents of varying level and duration are applied. This is generally 2,000 volts for 15 seconds for the first current to cause unconsciousness and to stop the heart. The second current is usually lowered to 8 amps. The current will normally cause severe damage to internal organsand the body can heat up to 138 °F (59 °C). While unconsciousness should occur within the first second or two, there have been occasions where it has taken much longer, leading people to speak out against this method ofexecution.

The post-execution cleanup is an unpleasant task as skin can melt to the electrodes and the person often loses control over bodily functions. The skin is also often burnt. The last use of the chair was on the 12th of September in Tennessee (6 days ago as of writing this). You can view a gruesome image of a person after being executed bythe electric chair here.

3. Gas Chamber

Gas chamber at Mississippi State Penitentiary

The gas chamber has been used for executions for a considerable number of years. It has gained the most notoriety from its use in the German prison camps during World War II where it was used to exterminate millions of people in one of the worst cases of genocide in the 20th century. All of the five US states that still use the gas chamber allow the prisoner to choose death by lethal injection instead. The last death by gas chamber in the US was in 1999 when German Walter LaGrand was executed in Arizona. There are unconfirmed reports that North Korea is using the gas chamber as a method ofexecution and to test poisonous gasses on prisoners.

Prior to the execution, the executioner will enter the chamber and place potassium cyanide (KCN) pellets into a small compartment beneath the execution chair. The prisoner is then brought in and secured to the chair. The chamber is sealed and the executioner pours a quantity of concentrated sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) through a tube which leads to a holding compartment in the chair. The curtains are drawn back for witnesses to see the execution and the prisoner is asked to make his last statement. After the last statement, a level is thrown by the executioner and the acid mixes with the cyanide pellets generating lethal hydrogen cyanide (HCN) gas. The prisoners will generally have been told to take deep breaths in order to speed up unconsciousness, but in most cases they hold their breath. Death from hydrogen cyanide is painful and unpleasant.

After the prisoner is dead, the chamber is purged of gas and neutralized with anhydrous ammonia (NH₃). Both the ammonia and the acid that must be removed from the chamber are highly dangerous. Guards with oxygen masks then enter the chamber and remove the body so that it can be examined by a doctor.

4. Single Person Shooting

Execution of a Vietcong captian

Execution by shooting is the most common method of execution in the world, used in over 70 countries. Whilst most of these countries use the firing squad, single person shooting is still found. In Soviet Russia, a single bulletto the back of the head was the most frequently used method of execution for military and non-military alike. This is still the main method of execution in Communist China though the gunshot can be to either the neck or head. In the past, the Chinese government would ask the family of the executed person to pay the price of the bullet. In Taiwan,the prisoner is first injected with a strong anesthetic to render him senseless and then a bullet is fired in to his heart.

5. Firing Squad

Antonio Echazarreta executed in 1913 in Mexio

The firing squad is considered by many to be the most honorable method of execution, and for that reason it was specifically not used on war criminals. While the method differs widely from country to country, generally the condemned is blindfolded and restrained. A group of men then fire a single bullet into the heart of the prisoner . In some cases, one of the shooters is given a blank – so that afterwards he will feel less guilt. None of the shooters knows who has a blank or, in fact, if any of them do. In the most recentexecution by firing squad in Utah, the brother of the executed man stated that there were five bullet holes in his brother’s shirt, indicating that every shooter fired a live round. Here is an eyewitness account of theexecution of William Johnson, a deserter in the Army of the Potomac in 1861.

All being ready the Marshal waved his handkerchief as the signal, and the firing party discharged the volley. Johnson did not move, remaining in a sitting posture for several seconds after the rifles were discharged. Then he quivered a little, and fell over beside his coffin. He was still alive, however, and the four reserves were called to complete the work. It was found that two of the firing party, Germans, had not discharged their pieces, and they were immediately put in irons. Johnson was shot several times in the heart by the first volley. Each of the four shots fired by the reserves took effect in his head, and he died instantly. One penetrated his chin, another his left cheek, while two entered the brain just above the left eyebrow. He died at precisely a quarter to four o’clock.

In the United States only two states allow execution by firing squad: Idaho, and Oklahoma; though Utah still has four prisoners on death row who were sentenced when it was lawful there and they may be permitted to be executed in this way.

6. Hanging

17 and 18 year old boys hanged in Iran for homosexuality

Hanging is carried out in a variety of ways: the short drop is when the prisoner is made to stand on an object which is then thrust away – leaving them to die by strangulation. This was a common method of hanging used by the Nazis and was the most common form used before the 1850s. Death is slow and painful. Suspension hanging (very popular in Iran) is when the gallows itself is movable. The prisoner stands on the ground with the noose around their neck and the gallows is then lifted in to the air, taking the prisoner with it. The standard drop was in common use in English nations after the 1850s – it involved tying the noose around the prisoner’s neck and then dropping them a short distance (usually 4-6 feet) to break the neck. This was the method used to execute the Nazi war criminals. The final method is the long drop, devised in 1872 in which the weight of a person was taken in to account to determine the correct rope and drop to be used to ensure the breaking of the neck. This was the method used by Albert Pierrepoint, the last executioner of England, described here in more detail:

The night before the execution, Pierrepoint would visit the condemned man in his cell with the Warden. The prisoner was not told that pierrepoint was his executioner. The purpose of the visit was to size the man up. Pierrepoint would use the information he had gained on the visit to decide what thickness of rope and what length of drop to use. He would soak the rope in water and would hang a sandbag the weight of the prisoner at the end to prevent stretching during the execution. The next day pierrepoint would put a cloth over the face of the prisoner and tighten the noose around his neck. He was very careful to ensure that the trapdoor beneath the condemned would be opened as soon after the noose went on as possible and would often kick the level with his foot. The person would then drop through the trapdoor and their neck would break, causing death.

There have been some instances where the long drop method has caused decapitation – the most recent of which was the hanging of Saddam Hussein’s half brother, Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, in Iraq in 2007.

If you can play real audio, here is a BBC interview with Pierrepoint.

7. Beheading

Sentenced at 15, Dhahian Rakan al-Sibai’i, executed July 2007

In some nations that adhere to Islamic Sharia law, beheadings are still a commonly used method of execution. The most frequently seen cases involve beheading by a curved, single-edged sword. While many nations allow beheading by law, Saudi Arabia is the country that uses it most often. The sentence is normally carried out on a Friday night in public outside the main mosque of the city after prayers. The penalty can be dealt for rape, murder, drug related crimes, and apostasy (rejection of religious beliefs).

Saudi Arabia frequently comes under fire from international agencies because of the fact that they continue to pass this sentence on minors. Saudi Arabian officials state that they are not in breach of international law because the sentence is not carried out until the child has reached the age of 18. This was the case with Dhahian Rakan al-Sibai’i (pictured above) who was sentenced at 15 but executed this year at the age of 18.

8. Guillotine

Eugène Weidmann, last public guillotine execution in France, 1939

Contrary to popular belief, Joseph-Ignace Guillotin did not invent the Guillotine; he suggested that a method of execution be devised that was quick and to be used on all people regardless of class. He sat on the committee that eventually designed the device, but it was actually Antoine Louis who came up with the design that was then used to build the first functioning guillotine. This is one of the two execution methods on this list which is no longer used anywhere in the world.

The device itself is a large timber frame with a space at the bottom for the neck of the prisoner. At the top of the machine is a large angled blade. Once the prisoner is secured, the blade is dropped, severing the head and bringing about immediate death. Much speculation exists as to whether or not the person dies immediately, and one man went so far as to ask a prisoner to blink after his head was cut off if he could. The accounts tell us that he did blink, but it is most likely that if he did, it would have been a post-death twitch.

The last public guillotining in France (photo above) was secretly filmed, and the scandalous behavior of the onlookers caused the government to ban public executions. It was the official method of execution in France until the death penalty was outlawed in 1981.

9. Stoning

A stoning in Iran

Stoning to death is when a person’s movements are restricted and an organized group throws stones at them until dead. Under Islamic Sharia law, stoning is an acceptable method of execution and it is used in many Islamic nations. In Iran, stoning is sanctioned for adultery and other crimes. Article 104 of the Law of Hodoud provides that the stones should not be so large that a person dies after being hit with two of them, nor so small as to be defined as pebbles, but must cause severe injury.

“The penalty for adultery under Article 83 of the penal code, called the Law of Hodoud is flogging (100 lashes of the whip) for unmarried male and female offenders. Married offenders may be punished by stoning regardless of their gender, but the method laid down for a man involves his burial up to his waist, and for a woman up to her neck (article 102). The law provides that if a person who is to be stoned manages to escape, he or she will be allowed to go free. Since it is easier for a man to escape, this discrimination literally becomes a matter of life and death.” [Source]

Sentences to death by stoning, or stoning without a sentence have occurred in Afghanistan, Nigeria, Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, Saudi-Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in recent years, according to the International Society of Human Rights. Videos of recent stonings have been smuggled out of Iran. You can watch them here. The most recent stoning in Iran was in 2007 when Jaffar Kiani was stoned to death for adultery.

10. Garrote

1901 execution by garotte in Manila

The garrote is the second method of execution on this list which is no longer sanctioned by law in any country though training in its use is still carried out in the French Foreign Legion. The garrote is a device that strangles a person to death (as in the photograph above). It can also be used to break a person’s neck. The device was used in Spain until it was outlawed in 1978 with the abolition of the death penalty. It normally consisted of a seat in which the prisoner was restrained while the executioner tightened a metal band around his neck until he died. Some versions of the garrote incorporated a metal bolt which pressed in to the spinal chord, breaking the neck. This spiked version is known as the Catalan garrote. The last execution by garrote was José Luis Cerveto in October 1977. Andorra was the last country in the world to outlaw its use, doing so in 1990.