Louis XVI was beheaded in 1793.
Mary, Queen of Scots, was beheaded for plotting against Queen Elizabeth.
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The bill was named after Dexter, a rescue dog who was adopted in 2024 and found beheaded in a public park days later.—Hugh Cameron, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 June 2025 Two Islamic State members, both former British citizens who were part of a cell that beheaded American hostages, are serving life prison sentences in the United States.—Andrew Mills, IndyStar, 12 May 2025 And while Saddam's regime was quickly beheaded, the region has had two decades of chaos and conflict since then.—Susan Page, USA Today, 19 June 2025 After only five minutes of exposure to the parasite, 22.4% of sperm cells were beheaded.—Bill Sullivan, The Conversation, 28 May 2025 The 28 statues of saints were beheaded, mistaken for French kings, and some of the bells were removed and melted down.
1804: Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself emperor of France with the pope in attendance in Notre-Dame, and portions of the cathedral were restored.—Marla Jo Fisher, Oc Register, 21 May 2025 The lamplight of Louisville, seen from the river, became a chain of beacon fires bringing news from Old Europe, where King Louis XVI, who gave the city its name, would be beheaded.—Jonathon Sturgeon, Harpers Magazine, 29 Apr. 2025 The group beheaded Palmyra's head of antiquities, Khaled al-Assad, and then systematically blew up several of the ancient city's most important monuments.—Jane Arraf, NPR, 17 Apr. 2025 But would you rather be blasted by tiny pieces — which really hurts — or beheaded or stabbed in the heart by a large shard with tape dangling off of it?—Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 28 May 2025
Word History
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of behead was
before the 12th century
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