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Illustrated aerial view of the Eastern State Penitentiary. The buildings form an asterisk shape and the building is walled in.
Eastern State Penitentiary. (Photo: Library Company of Philadelphia)

Eastern State Penitentiary, which is known as the first "modern prison," opens in Philadelphia.

1829

PIC
Eastern State Penitentiary. (Photo: Library Company of Philadelphia)

The prison develops the use of solitary confinement, to give incarcerated people time for "reflection" and “penitence.”