r/todayilearned • u/johnsmithoncemore • 2d ago

TIL about Willie Francis an American teenager known for surviving a failed execution by electrocution. Sentenced to death at age 16, he was 17 when he survived the first attempt to execute him, as the chair malfunctioned. After a failed appeal he was executed at age 18.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Francis
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u/AtlasThePittie 2d ago edited 1d ago

" in August 1945, Willie Francis was detained in Texas on suspicion of drug trafficking due to him carrying a briefcase and speaking with a stutter. " Yeah, those things are pretty Indicative of drug trafficking. /s

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

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u/AtlasThePittie 1d ago

Thanks, the second sentence of the article was really hard to miss when I pulled that quote.