The Gallows

The Gallows

While it may seem like a dated practice, prisoners are still put to death via hanging. This occurs in more than 50 countries, including the US, where it's still legal in New Hampshire and Washington but rarely used.

The last occurrence was in Delaware for the 1996 execution of Billy Bailey. 

The reason this implementation of death has stood the test of time is likely because it’s cost-effective and efficient, requiring little else than some rope and a tall structure. There are two techniques of hanging still carried out today. 

First, there is the more humane long-drop technique - used to execute Saddam Hussein in 2006 - in which the condemned is dropped at enough of a distance for the rope to snap their necks when it goes taut, causing instant termination.

And then there is the other, more brutal short-drop technique, which causes extended strangulation.