The hanging of Rainey Bethea on August 14, 1936. “It was the last public execution in the United States. The event was an item of national interest because Bethea was to be hanged by Florence Thompson, the sheriff of Davies County. Arthur L. Hash, a former policeman from Louisville, offered to pull the trigger for her, and she accepted. But on the day of the execution, Hash showed up drunk and missed his cue. A deputy did it instead, and America was disappointed.
