Trapdoor
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A trapdoor or hatch is a sliding or hinged door that is flush with the surface of a floor, ceiling, or roof. It is traditionally small in size. It was invented to facilitate the hoisting of grain up t
A trapdoor to a bomb shelter from World War II
Deck hatch of the Omega, the last square-rigged sailing cargo ship
Amtrak conductors standing in the doorways of Amfleet cars with their trapdoors in the closed (above) and open (below) positions
19th century Star trap from the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, Now at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Gallows
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A gallows is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects s
Trapdoor
…hoisting of grain up through mills, however, its list of uses has grown over time. The trapdoor has played a pivotal function in the operation of the gallows, cargo ships, trains, booby traps, and more recently theatre and films. Originally, trapdoors were sack traps in mills, and allowed the sacks to pass…
Unidentified men wait at the gallows before execution of Melquiades Chapa and Jose Buenrostro on May 19, 1916, in Brownsville, Texas.
A hangman positions the noose around the neck of a Japanese war criminal as he is held steady by a British military officer just prior to his execution by hanging at the gallows in Changi Prison in Singapore 1946. The condemned man is standing within a circle on the trapdoor, and on either side of him are two other circles indicating that the gallows had the provision for multiple simultaneous executions.
Illustration of hanging during the Thirty Years' War
These gallows in Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park are maintained for historical purposes by Arizona State Parks.