The French didn't actually invent the device that would become the 'guillotine'. The decapitation machine now known as the guillotine was not a French invention and wasn't invented by Joseph Guillotin... The origins of this macabre device are medieval, although the date of its earliest use remains uncertain. An early record comes from Halifax in West Yorkshire, England which had the right to execute criminals by 1280 at the latest. A machine called 'The Halifax Gibbet' was first recorded as being used there in 1286 when one John Dalton was beheaded. It wasn't until many years later first used in France on 25 April 1792.