Guillotine earrings from France's Reign of Terror, c. 1793. These particular earrings were wildly popular during this time as the guillotine became the emblem of the French Revolution. On top of the earrings are Phrygian caps which symbolize liberty and on the bottom are the decapitated heads of the king and queen.

Between a span of 11 months (June 1793 and July 1794) Robespierre, Danton and the Committee of Public Safety sentenced 16,594 people to their deaths, including allies to the regime. In the end, both of them ended up being guillotined themselves.

I really feel for the guy who the guillotine is named after -Joseph-Ignace Guillotin. He was a physician who was opposed to the death penalty and attempted to persuade Louis XVI of France to implement more humane ways of punishment. Guillotin didn't even invent the device and yet his name stuck. His family was so mortified that they decided to change their family name.