7. Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin did not invent the beheading device named for him
An often repeated tale which lacks a kernel of truth is that Joseph Guillotin, a French physician, invented the guillotine and was later executed upon it. Guillotin and a German engineer did build a prototype of a beheading machine based on others already in use in Europe, but the true inventor of the device which became known as the guillotine was Antoine Louis. The machine was known as a louisette until Guillotin proposed its use as the means of all capital punishment in France. Guillotin was imprisoned for a time during the French Revolution, but he was released in 1794 and resumed his medical career. He died in 1814 of natural causes.