History of the Death Penalty

  • 1800 BCE

    The birth of the death penalty.

    The first established death penalty dates all the way back to the 18th century.
  • First execution

    The first recorded execution for punishment
  • Most used time

    This was the start of when the death penalty was used the most in American history.
  • The changes

    After a complicated case, the rules on giving the death penalty to citizens were made a little more strict.
  • Wrongly accused and convicted.

    since 1973, 186 people have been killed for crimes they didn't commit,