Legend has it that during the 6th century BC, a brass worker named Perilous of Athens designed what is arguably the most sadistic torture method to date — the Brazen Bull. In this device, the victim would be placed inside a hollowed brass bull with a fire lit underneath. A system of tubes inside the statue would then amplify the victim's screams to sound like a raging bull. The story goes that the tyrant ruler Phalaris was so appalled by this device that he tricked Perilous into entering the bull to be its first victim.