Although the concept of a beheading machine existed for centuries, the guillotine as we know it today owes its fame and refinement to the events of the French Revolution. This is where France's role becomes central—not necessarily as the inventor of the machine, but as the one that standardized, rationalized, and named it.

• Joseph-Ignace Guillotin: A French physician and member of the National Assembly, Dr. Guillotin was a vocal advocate for reforming capital punishment. He was appalled by the brutal and often botched executions of the ancien régime and proposed the use of a mechanical device that would deliver quick, painless death to all condemned persons, regardless of social class. This was part of a broader Enlightenment-era push for legal equality and humane treatment of the condemned.
   

• The Law of 1791: Following Guillotin’s advocacy, the National Assembly decreed that all executions should be carried out by a single method—beheading by a mechanical device—intended to be swift and egalitarian. The responsibility of designing this machine fell to Dr. Antoine Louis, the Secretary of the Academy of Surgery.
   

• Antoine Louis and Tobias Schmidt: Dr. Louis, working with a German harpsichord maker named Tobias Schmidt, created the device that would come to be known as the "Louisette" or "Louison" before it was popularly renamed the guillotine. Schmidt built the prototype, and the first execution using the machine took place in 1792.
   

It is important to note that Dr. Guillotin did not invent the guillotine, nor was he directly involved in its construction. In fact, he was later distressed to find his name permanently associated with the device shutdown123