As part of the Death Penalty Study, researchers explored people's views toward public executions. The last public execution in the U.S. occurred in 1936 in Owensboro, Kentucky. Rainey Bethea, a black man in his 20s, was hanged for raping a white woman in her 70s. The spectacle drew a crowd of 10,000-20,000 white men, women, and children to witness the 5 a.m. execution. Reports indicated that many were intoxicated.

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