20 Facts About Excruciating Methods of Execution and Torture in History

20. Thank God we’re so civilized today… actually, what about Waterboarding?

You were just beginning to rest on your laurels, weren’t you? Unfortunately, even in countries which are not run by despots, torture still goes on, and Waterboarding is by far the most notorious example. Water torture is an ancient practice, which aims to threaten the victim with drowning to extract information. Waterboarding is a slight modification of the technique, in that it intends only to simulate the terrifying experience of drowning, rather than actually drowning the victim. In Waterboarding, all that is required is a strip of cloth, a bucket of water, a victim… and a badge of authority.

The cloth is lain over the victim’s face, who is inclined at an angle of 10-20 degrees. Water is then poured over their face to fill the mouth and nostrils, causing such distress that information is usually given up. In some cases, the victim is killed, but other severe injuries can include brain damage from oxygen deprivation, damage to lungs, and broken limbs from struggling against restraints. The long-term psychological impact is utterly appalling, too. Despite this, during the War on Terror, the US government repeatedly stated that it did not see Waterboarding as a form of torture.

Waterboarding is used in military training, and some people have described their experiences. Chris Jaco, a former military pilot, underwent Waterboarding as part of his training, aged just nineteen. ‘It felt like you were choking to death on water and couldn’t stop it from being that way’, he remembers. ‘I was throwing people off of me because it was so overwhelming… It was like, I can’t breathe, water’s going up my nose and my throat was basically filled with water.’ And that’s despite Jaco knowing that he wouldn’t actually be drowned by his instructors. Haven’t we progressed as a species?

Where did we find this stuff? Here are our sources:

Medium – The Brazen Bull: Worst Punishment In History

All That’s Interesting – Keelhauling — The Torture Method Where Waterboarding Meets Death By A Thousand Cuts

Ranker – A Step-By-Step Walk-Through Of Keelhauling, One Of The Most Horrific Punishments Ever Devised

Ranker – What Happens to Your Body When You’re Boiled to Death

Tudor Dynasty – Types of Execution and Victims of Henry VIII

Awesome Stories – Roman Crucifixion – Method of Execution

How Stuff Works – The ‘Hanged, Drawn and Quartered’ Execution Was Even Worse than You Think

Medium – The Wheel — One of History’s Cruelest Forms of Torture

Grunge – How the Catherine Wheel Became a Dark Form of Torture

Tales of Times Forgotten – Was Scaphism a Real Thing?

Grunge – Messed Up Things That Happened At The Tower Of London