One of the more shocking public punishments of the past in the Netherlands was the draaikooi, a spinning cage often used to punish prostitutes and women accused of adultery.
The condemned woman was strapped tightly to a chair inside an iron cage. Once secured, the cage was spun at high speed while crowds gathered to watch. Spectators eagerly waited for the inevitable moment when the victim would become nauseous and started vomiting.
In sheer panic, some women reached out through the bars, only to suffer broken bones as their arms struck the rapidly rotating metal cage.
These public punishments were designed not only to punish. Besides entertaining the crowd it also served as a grim warning, you'd better behave or risk the same fate.