The last known guillotine use was 1977, in France. Humane but messy. France abolished capital punishment shortly thereafter. One of the most interesting books I ever read was about the British executioner Albert Pierrepoint. From the early 1930s into the 1950s he executed something like 500-600 criminals, including a number of convicted WW2 Nazis. When was not out hanging people, he ran a London pub that was very successful. There was a movie made about him, but I have never seen it.
He learned the trade by apprenticing with his father and uncle who were also hangmen.
Then there was Stalin’s chief executioner, Vasily Blokhin. His victims run well into the thousands. His method was a .25 pistol shot to the brain. He specialized in mass executions of hundreds at a time. Allegedly he carried a briefcase containing multiple Walther .25 pistols and loaded magazines plus a leather butcher’s apron.
