A lethal injection is administered in the execution chamber at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in this January 1997 photo.
You’ve probably read the news lately of the controversial executions in Arkansas. The site Executed Today gives a gory glimpse into the past…who was executed on this day in history, why, and how. The creator claims that the blog is neither for nor against the death penalty, but instead is a sort of non-lethal cocktail of criminology, biology, sociology, history, and the law. Gruesome methods of execution are described, whether it’s of a 19th Century axe murderer, a medieval type being drawn and quartered, or an anarchist shot by firing squad with a defiant cigarette dangling from his lips. Notable commuted sentences and too-late reprieves are also covered. Click on the “random execution” button for, yes, exactly that.
(Image: Shepard Sherbell/Corbis via Getty Images)
