For about nine decades, executions in the U.S. have been private affairs. The stunning Pentagon announcement Thursday that the first military execution in more than 65 years will be livestreamed could change that. Allowing the world to watch Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan face the firing squad in December would make it the first public execution since two hangings in the 1930s in Kentucky and Missouri drew crowds. Experts say a livestreamed execution is reminiscent of a bygone period in America’s history in which public executions were seen as deterrents to crime as well as popular ceremonies.