1000 Years of Annoying the French by Stephen Clarke

Author:Stephen Clarke
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi, pdf
ISBN: 9781407067629
Publisher: Transworld Digital

15

The Guillotine, a British Invention

‘There is only one cure for grey hair. It was invented by a Frenchman. It is called the guillotine.’

P. G. Wodehouse

Before France plunges itself into the self-flagellation that they called a revolution, one key historical mistake has to be cleared up: the guillotine, which will play a surprisingly limited role in the ensuing action, was not French. The earliest references to a decapitation machine with a falling blade are British.

To put it bluntly, Docteur Guillotin never invented such a machine, and in fact he was most upset that his name had been misappropriated to describe a way of cutting off people’s heads. In any case, the first French guillotine was built by a Prussian.

So, the guillotine – a French invention? Apologies to France (and P. G. Wodehouse), but it’s another misconception that has to be knocked on the head.

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