Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The only death by peine forte et dure in American history was that of Giles Corey, who was pressed to death on September 19, 1692, during the Salem witch trials, after he refused to enter a plea in the judicial proceeding. According to legend, his last words as he was being crushed were "More weight", and he was thought to be dead as the weight ...
Peine forte et dure (Law French for "hard and forceful punishment") was a method of torture formerly used in the common law legal system, in which a defendant who refused to plead ("stood mute") would be subjected to having heavier and heavier stones placed upon their chest until a plea was entered, or death resulted.
This category is not for articles about concepts and things but only for articles about the words themselves. Please keep this category purged of everything that is not actually an article about a word or phrase. See as example Category:English words.
Under these conditions, the crowd may undergo a progressive collapse where the pressure pushes people off their feet, resulting in people being trampled or crushed by the weight of other people falling on top of them. At even higher densities, the pressure on each individual can cause them to be crushed or asphyxiated while still upright. [3]
After being arrested, Corey refused to enter a guilty or not guilty plea. He was subjected to torture in the form of crushing in an effort to force him to plead, dying after three days of being crushed. Because Corey refused to enter a plea, his estate passed on to his sons instead of being seized by the Massachusetts colonial government.
Illustration from the Akbarnama, the official chronicle of the reign of Akbar, the third Mughal emperor. Execution by elephant, or Gunga Rao, was a method of capital punishment in South and Southeast Asia, particularly in India, where Asian elephants were used to crush, dismember, or torture captives during public executions.
[1] [2] [3] Rather than being crushed in a wine press or by another mechanized method, grapes are repeatedly trampled in vats by barefoot participants to release their juices and begin fermentation. Grape-treading was widespread in the history of winemaking , but with the introduction of industrial methods, it now survives mostly as a ...
Pressing hands together with a smile to greet namaste – a common cultural gesture in India. Namaste (Sanskrit pronunciation:, [1] Devanagari: नमस्ते), sometimes called namaskār and namaskāram, is a customary Hindu [2] [3] [4] manner of respectfully greeting and honouring a person or group, used at any time of day. [5]