The guillotine was a device consisting of two poles and a blade with which a person was beheaded. It was invented by Dr. Guillotin, a French physician and member of the National Assembly, who was instrumental in passing a law that required all sentences of death to be carried out by "means of a machine". The device consists of two posts surmounted by a crossbeam and a heavy, angled blade that slides up and down on grooves in the posts. The victims head is placed on a platform beneath the blade, and when the blade is released, it falls and severs the head from the body. Many historians consider the guillotine the first execution method that lessened the victims pain and the first step in raising public awareness of the morality of the death penalty. During the French Revolution, the guillotine became the primary symbol of the Reign of Terror and was used to execute thousands of people, including King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. The use of the guillotine continued in France well into the 20th century, diminishing during the 1960s and 70s, with only eight executions occurring between 1965 and the last one in 1977.