Beheading has long been a manner in which to inact punishment. England and France are very well known for their headless histories. Axes and swords were favored for many years. France began using the guillotine because they felt it was less painful and less cruel than the sword and ax.

What famous people have lost their heads, literally? Read on to find out!!

Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's 2nd wife was beheaded, by sword, for having some extra leisure on the side.

Henry's 5th wife was also beheaded!

Lady Jane Grey was only Queen for 9 days before she was beheaded for taking Mary's rightful position as Queen.

Mary, Queen of Scots lost her head in a painful way...she was in the midst of being executed, for treason, when the executioner took his first whack and missed her neck, cutting her in the back of the skull. He hit her another 2 times but the neck wouldn't sever, so he had to grind the ax like a saw to finish the job. As if that wasn't bad enough, the executioner picked Mary's head up by her hair, which turned out to be a wig, and dropped the head, bouncing it across the floor.

King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette were led to the guillotine for conspiring against the French republic in 1793.

Rumored lover of Elizabeth I and explorer, Sir Walter Raleigh was beheaded in 1618. It supposedly took several whacks for the deed to be finished! His wife kept his head in her purse until her own death.

Maximillian Robespierre led thousands of people to the guillotine for going against the new French Republic. He eventually died there as well, when people got tired of his leadership. Prior to his beheading, he tried to shoot himself. He failed to die and instead waited for his beheading with half of his jaw hanging off!

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