Italy today might be the capital of the anti-capital punishment movement; it’s turned the Roman Colosseum — whose thirsty sands once drank so much state-spilled blood — into a sort of permanent monument to abolition that’s lit up beautifully in celebration of repeals and moratoria all around the world.

Obviously, it was not always thus. Never mind the ancient punishments from ancient Rome’s foggy infancy or her Etruscan ancestry; the papacy which today shows so prominently against the executioner in the 19th century employed one of the most famous of the species, to the admiration of tourists.

Italy as a whole only officially got rid of the death penalty on January 1, 1948, but it does have a deeper heritage to claim. The then-independent Grand Duchy of Tuscany enjoys pride of place for its 1786 abolition — on November 30, to be exact, a date which is now a public holiday in Tuscany and observed internationally as Cities for Life Day.

So, fine, everyone has a few skeletons in the closet even if they’re not on the execution playing cards. For the next few days we’ll pull on our boots and wade through Italy’s.

• August 8, 1735: Nicholas Bighelini, Mantua betrayer
• August 9: A Day in the Death Penalty Around the Martyrology
• August 10, 1916: Nazario Sauro, Italian patriot

On this day..

• 1923: Albert Edward Burrows, Simmondley pit shaft horror
• 1848: Puran Appu, Kandy rebel
• 1862: Frisby McCullough, Missouri bushwhacker
• 1942: Six German saboteurs
• 1735: Nicholas Bighelini, Mantua betrayer
• 1990: Sam Cayhall in Grisham's "The Chamber"
• 1570: John Felton, papal bull promulgator
• 1846: John Rodda, nobody chokes baby on acid
• 1849: Ugo Bassi, nationalist priest
• 1523: Jean Valliere, the first Protestant burnt in France
• 1914: Rudolf Duala Manga Bell, in German Kamerun
• 1812: Daniel Dawson, for the integrity of sport
• 1944: Eight July 20 plotters