Results: Machines Of Malice--- History's Most Horrendous Torture, And Death Devices; Part 2. Warning-- This Is Real History, Horrific Details Ahead.

Ever since man has been in the business of seeking vengeance, torture has been a reality for war criminals, prisoners, and other less than fortunate individuals. In fact, the most unsettling thing about torture isn't its existence, but the way people have injected a perverted sense of creativity into the creation of devices designed to create pain. Have you ever watched the show "death machines" on the Discovery Channel?

The Breaking Wheel--Also known as the Catherine Wheel, this torture device use to slowly kill the victim. First, the victim's limbs were tied to the spokes of a large wooden wheel which would then be slowly revolved as the torturer simultaneously smashed the victim's limbs with an iron hammer to break them in numerous places. As the bones were broken, the victim would be left on the wheel to die or could be placed on top of a tall pole so the birds could feed on their flesh while still alive. It could have taken days for the victim to die from dehydration. Would you want someone to deliver a "blow of mercy" to stop your suffering and agony, or would you rather just wait until you died?

The Head Crusher-- The head crusher was a brutal torture device commonly used only by the Spanish Inquisition. The person's chin was placed over a bottom bar and the head under a upper metal cap. The executioner then slowly turned the screw, gradually compressing the head between the bar and cap. It then eventually shattered the victim's teeth, and squeezes out the eyes. The agony could last several hours, until the victims brain was finally crushed. This horrendous instrument was an effective way to extract confessions from the victims. Would you confess if your head was forced into "the head crusher"?

Elephant Head Crusher-- In the medieval India and Persia, trained elephants were often used to crush the heads of criminals. This practice continued well into the 19th century. Execution by elephant in Persia, 1868. Are you happy, and thankful that we are not living in those times of harsh, painful, punishments?

The Iron Maiden-- Has an embrace anyone would want to avoid. Once inside the Iron Maiden's conical frame, you're unable to move because of dozens of steel points stabbing from every direction. An interrogator screams questions at you through a small hole, while poking you with jagged edges, or just leaving you for hours to stew in your thoughts. Would you like to educate yourself more about these historical torture machines?

Cat's Paw or Spanish Tickler-- This tool was brutally used to rip the victim's flesh to shreds. Because of the dimension of the claws, muscles and bones were no obstacle in this barbaric practice. It was, of course, inflicted on victims tied up hand and foot. Have you heard that this form of torture was mainly used on male offenders, and got its name due to the tools similarity with a cat's paw with very long nails?

Choke Pear-- This instrument was used in oral and rectal formats, and in the larger vaginal one. They are forced into the mouth, rectum or vagina of the victim and there expanded by force of the screw to the maximum aperture of the segments. The inside of the cavity in question is irremediably mutilated, nearly always fatally so. The pointed prongs at the end of the segments serve better to rip into the throat, the intestines or the cervix. Were you aware that this is also called the "Pear of Anguish"?

Flaying-- Execution by Flaying is when the skin of the criminal is removed from their body with the use of a very sharp knife. Attempts are made to keep the skin intact. This is a very ancient method of execution. Were you knowledgeable that there are accounts of Assyrians flaying the skin from a captured enemy or rebellious ruler and nailing it to the wall of his city, as warning to all who would defy their power?

Boiling-- In execution by boiling, the condemned is stripped naked and either placed in a vat of boiling liquid, or in a vat of cold liquid which was then heated to boiling. The liquid could be oil, acid, tar, water, or molten lead. During the reign of King Henry Vlll it was a punishment especially reserved for poisoners. Have you ever heard of this torture device before?

The Windlass Of Erasmus-- Saint Erasmus of Formia shows up with what looks like a skewer of sausages on a stick. But those are not sausages; those are Erasmus' disemboweled intestines spun around a windlass. Erasmus' Roman tormentors used this crank- turned horizontal beam to spool out the third- century martyr's guts. Has such an intestinal crank ever seen action in the dungeons of history? Perhaps not, yet religious art has made it real. Are you familiar with this torture device?

The Pendulum-- As the victim stares up from his table of confinement at the steadily- descending pendulum blade. Each swing brings it inexorably closer with mathematical precision, until finally it makes its first slice. The blade approaching nearer and nearer: at length it cuts the skin of the nose, and gradually cuts on, until life is extinct.The madness of the victim's anticipation was said to rival or even surpass the pain. Do you think that this is possible?