The elderly man was pushed into the garishly lit room. In front of him, a smartly dressed man in a frock coat held out his hand. Instinctively, the elderly man shook it, briefly noting the ...

The machine was initially tested on sheep, calves, and human corpses. Finally, Roederer reached an agreement with a German harpsichord maker, Tobias Schmidt, to manufacture the guillotine.

And the machine that brought about Louis’ death would ultimately become just as iconic as the revolution’s act of mob violence. The guillotine’s story in France had begun just a few years prior.