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The Code of Hammurabi
"The Code of Hammurabi, is a legal document from ancient Babylonia (modern-day Iraq), and contained the first known death penalty laws. The code was written in 1700 BC. Under the code, there were 25 crimes that were punishable by death. Adultery and helping slaves escape were two of those crimes. Murder, however, was not one of them" (Historical Timeline: Death Penalty, 2012). -
Italian Jurist Presents a Critique of the Death Penalty That Influences Abolitionists
Beccaria called for an end to the death penalty. He is considered the founder of the modern abolition movement. In 1764, he published his famous work: Essays on Crimes and Punishments. It was the first major study of the criminal justice system as it operated in eighteenth-century Europe, as well as the first call for the abolition of capital punishment. It remains the most influential attack on the death penalty ever published (Historical Timeline: Death Penalty). -
Founding Fathers Allow for Death Penalty When Writing Constitution
Founding Father allowed the death penalty when writing the constitution and when making provisions. (Historical Timeline: Death Penalty, 2012) -
First US Congress Establishes Federal Death Penalty
Thomas Bird of Massachusetts was the first person federally executed on June 25, 1790, when U.S. Marshall Henry Dearborn coordinated the hanging. (Historical Timeline: Death Penalty, 2012) -
Private Hangings
Thousands of people would show up to hangings. Fights would ensue and sometimes those would last for days after a hanging took place. Local merchants would even sell souvenirs. Because of this, private hangings started taking place (Historical Timeline: Death Penalty, 2012). -
National Death Penalty Abolition Society
First National Death Penalty Abolition Society Is Formed (Historical Timeline: Death Penalty, 2012) -
First state to outlaw the death penalty
"The first state to outlaw the death penalty for all crimes, including treason, was Rhode Island, in 1852; Wisconsin was the second state to do so a year later." (Historical Timeline: Death Penalty, 2012) -
Thomas Edison
"In the 1880s, Thomas Edison started building electrical lighting systems in U.S. cities. His company demonstrated the power of electricity by electrocuting animals. These demonstrations led some people to reason that electrocution was a quick and painless form of execution." In 1887, Edison conducted many of these demonstrations in West Orange, NJ where he electrocuted numerous dogs and cats” (Historical Timeline: Death Penalty, 2012). -
First execution by electrocution.
New York State used an electric chair to carry out the first execution by electrocution. The person was murderer William Kemmler. The electrocution was hardly quick or painless. It took two surges of electricity, one of them lasting more than one minute, to kill Kemmler. The electricity burned him to death. Despite the gruesome procedure, people still thought electrocution was more humane and efficient than previous methods. (Historical Timeline: Death Penalty, 2012) -
The first execution by lethal gas
The first execution by lethal gas in American history was carried out in Carson City, Nevada on Feb. 8, 1924. The man was Tong Lee, a member of a Chinese gang who was convicted of murdering a rival gang member. Lethal gas was adopted by Nevada in 1921 as a more humane method of carrying out its death sentences, as opposed to the traditional techniques of execution by hanging, firing squad, or electrocution." (Historical Timeline: Death Penalty, 2012) -
The Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution is passed
The Fourteenth Amendment states: "nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The Fourteenth Amendment was cited in the June 29, 1972 Supreme Court case Furman v. Georgia which ruled the death penalty unconstitutional as administered. (Historical Timeline: Death Penalty, 2012) -
US Supreme Court Rules Death Penalty Unconstitutional
The US Supreme Court overturned over 600 Death Sentences thinking the death penalty is unconstitutional (Historical Timeline: Death Penalty, 2012). -
US Supreme Court Reaffirms Constitutionality of Death Penalty
US Supreme Court Reaffirms Constitutionality of Death Penalty (Historical Timeline: Death Penalty, 2012) -
Texas Performs First Lethal Injection
"In 1977, an Oklahoma medical examiner named Jay Chapman proposed that death-row inmates be executed using three drugs administered in a specific sequence: a barbiturate (to anesthetize inmates), pancuronium bromide (to paralyze inmates and stop their breathing) and lastly potassium chloride (which stop the heart). On Dec. 2, 1982, Texas became the first to use the procedure (Historical Timeline: Death Penalty, 2012).” -
The 1994 Crime Bill
“Passed by the Congress and signed by President Clinton, The Crime Bill created sixty new federal crimes for which the death penalty could be imposed and extended it to include certain drug offences." Offenses eligible for the federal death penalty include large-scale drug trafficking, terrorist homicides, murder of a Federal law enforcement officer, and drive-by-shootings and carjacking’s that result in a death (Historical Timeline: Death Penalty, 2012).” -
Saddam Hussein's execution
“Saddam Hussein was executed on December 30, 2006. US president George Bush said Saddam had received the kind of justice he denied his victims. Some key US allies expressed discomfort at the execution. Russia and the Vatican expressed regret (Historical Timeline: Death Penalty, 2012).” -
One Drug Lethal Injection
Ohio Performs the First Execution with a One-Drug Intravenous Lethal Injection (Historical Timeline: Death Penalty, 2012). -
Sole Firm Stops Making Key Death Penalty Drug
The only company in the US that makes the anesthetic that is used in executions stated that they would stop the production of the drug so it couldn’t be used on prisoners for their death. (Historical Timeline: Death Penalty, 2012)
