20 prisoners were executed in the United States in 2019.
At least 690 executions were recorded by Amnesty International in 20 countries in 2018, a decrease of 31% compared to 2017.
China executes the death penalty more than 4 times as the rest of the world combined.
The Death Penalty is legal in 32 U.S. states.
At least 1 in 25 people sentenced to the death penalty in the U.S. are innocent.
The death penalty was outlawed in the UK partly because a man was wrongfully executed for the murder of his wife and daughter in 1950.
Drug possession and trafficking are punished in Singapore with the death penalty.
Iran sentences its citizens to the death penalty if they decide to change their religion from Islam.
Crucifixion is still an official form of death penalty in Sudan.
Death penalty trials are 20 times more expensive than trials seeking a sentence of life in prison without parole.
In 1944, a 14-year-old African-American was executed in the U.S. after a quick 2-hour trial with little evidence.
Since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court, 1,394 people have been executed (as of December 2014).
Saudi Arabia, a member of the U.N. Human Rights Council, punished 2,000 people with the death penalty since 1985.
The night before his execution, a man in Georgia escaped from prison and, later that night, was beaten to death in a bar fight.
60% of the world's population live in countries where the death penalty is legal, such as China, India, the U.S. and Indonesia.
The state of Washington may still execute prisoners by hanging.
In 2005, A Chinese company used skin harvested from the corpses of executed convicts to develop beauty products for sale in Europe.
Nike's slogan "Just do it" was inspired by the last words of a man about to be executed.
Atheism is punished with the death penalty in 13 countries.
Bill Cosby spoke out against giving the death penalty to the man who shot and killed his own son.
103 countries have abolished the death penalty. Notable exceptions include the U.S., Japan and China.
In 1863, Venezuela became the first modern country to abolish the death penalty for all crimes.
In Ancient Egypt, killing a cat, even accidentally, incurred the death penalty.
150 people punished with the death penalty were later exonerated by the U.S.
6 in 10 Americans favor the death penalty for convicted murderers.
86% of people surveyed in Egypt are in favor of the death penalty as a punishment for abandoning Islam.
Iran sentences its citizens to the death penalty on cases of corruption.
In Ancient Rome, the punishment for killing one's father was the death penalty, consisting of being sewn up in a sack along with a viper, a dog, and a cock.
In 1989, an innocent man was punished with the death penalty in Texas because the jury confused him for another with the same name, looks and height.
Nepal was the first country in Asia to introduce gay marriage. It has also outlawed the death penalty.
China has mobile "execution vans" to enforce the death penalty without moving to a proper execution ground.
A Death Row study found that ice cream and pie were the most popular desserts for a last meal, followed by cake.
Belarus is the last UN member country in Europe that still uses the death penalty. Convicts are shot with a pistol.
Since 1981, Mexico does not extradite to countries that are seeking the death penalty, and has successfully defended 400 of its citizens charged with a capital offence in the U.S.
In China, human trafficking is punished with the death penalty.
In the 16th century, England punished vagabonds with two years of servitude for the first offence and death penalty for the second.
The Pentateuch (Torah in Judaism, Old Testament in the Christian Bible), lays down the death penalty for murder, kidnapping, magic, violation of the Sabbath, blasphemy, and a wide range of sexual crimes.
Death row inmates in Texas don't get to pick their last meal.
In 117 ad, Emperor Hadrian declared attempted suicide by soldiers, a form of desertion and made it a capital offence.
In 2010, Utah executed an inmate by using a firing squad.
Japanese Death Row inmates are not told their date of execution. They wake up each day wondering if it might be their last.
In Florida, executions are carried out by a private citizen who is paid $150 per execution.
The drugs used for a lethal injection in Texas cost $83.
Firing squad is a legal method of execution in Oklahoma.
Possessing Bibles, watching South Korean movies and distributing pornography may be punished with death in North Korea.
Company executives in China can get sentenced to death for committing fraud.