Forget the image of the hooded executioner swinging an ax; much of what we think we know about these medieval figures isn't true. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an ...

Among the items currently on display at the museum is an executioner's axe from the island of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean. The axe beheaded 80 people convicted of crimes there until August 1851.

What we knew: Earlier this week, 19-year-old Lincoln, Nebraska resident Luke Marshall attacked his 21-year-old brother with a "double-bladed medieval axe" after the sibling complained about the ...