A Chronology of the Death Penalty
1608: In Virginia, George Kendall's execution is the first recorded in the Colonies.
1632: In Virginia, Jane Champion is the first woman executed in the Colonies.
Early 1800s: States begin reducing their capital crimes and building state prisons.
1846: Michigan is the first state to ban the death penalty for all crimes but treason.
1890: New York executes William Kemmler, the first prisoner put to death by electrocution.
1907-17: Nine states abolish or strictly limit the death penalty.
1924: Cyanide gas is introduced as a method of execution.
1930s: The highest level of executions in the United States is reached -- an average of 167 per year.
1966: A Gallup Poll shows support for the death penalty at only 42 percent nationally -- an all-time low.
1972: In Furman v. Georgia, the Supreme Court effectively voids 40 capital punishment statues and suspends the death penalty.
1976: In Gregg v. Georgia, the death penalty is reinstated.
1977: Gary Gilmore is executed by firing squad in Utah, ending a 10-year moratorium on capital punishment.
1982: Charles Brooks, in Texas, is the first person executed by lethal injection.
1984: Velma Barfield, in North Carolina, is the first woman executed since the death penalty was reinstated.
1986: The execution of insane persons is banned.
1998: Northwestern University holds a conference on wrongful convictions with 30 inmates who were freed from death row after being found innocent.
2003: Illinois's governor grants clemency to 167 death-row inmates.
2005: North Carolina executes Kenneth Lee Boyd, the 1,000th execution in the United States since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. 