The earliest records of a death sentence date from the 16th century BC, when a member of the Egyptian nobility was accused of magic, and ordered to take his own life.

America has used the death penalty since colonial times, when American settlers brought the practice over with them from Britain. Early executions were public, usually held in town squares, where large crowds would gather to watch. It wasn't until the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania started to build state penitentiaries in 1834 that executions were moved indoors and out of public view.

During the civil war, some states began to reform their laws and abolish the death penalty, in favor of keeping people in jail for life. Slowly, individual states began to abolish mandatory death sentences for most crimes.

Then, during the first half of the 20th century, public support for the death penalty grew, fed by fears of social and political disorder. The 1930s saw the highest level of execution ever - an average of 167 people were put to death each year.

By the 1960s, support waned again and the legality of the penalty itself was challenged. In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the death penalty was "cruel and unusual" punishment and a violation of the Constitution. This ruling technically ended capital punishment in the United States. But individual states eventually found ways to alter their death penalty laws to make it legal.

With the 1977 execution of Gary Gilmore by firing squad in Utah, the moratorium on executions was lifted and state executions have continued until this day. Today, the most active death penalty states are Texas, Virginia, Oklahoma, Florida and Delaware. Twelve states and the District of Columbia (Washington DC) do not have the death penalty at all.

The U.S. is one of only about 90 countries in the world that administer the death penalty. In some countries, like China, the death penalty is used relatively frequently, in some cases for crimes like tax evasion. Most countries in Europe have banned execution as a punishment for crimes. Many people there see executions in America as a barbaric relic of this nation's "cowboy days."