Pakistan, July 13 -- Executions carried out by federal authorities have stopped, restarted and stopped again for long stretches since the first one in 1790, when US marshals hanged a mariner in Maine for fatally shooting the captain of a slave ship.

After a 17-year hiatus, the Trump administration wants to restart federal executions this month in Terre Haute, Indiana. The first was supposed to happen Monday, but it was delayed by an Indiana federal judge's ruling. The Justice Department appealed that decision.

Some questions and answers about the history of the death penalty:

Q: HOW MANY FEDERAL EXECUTIONS HAVE THERE BEEN?

A: . The federal government has never been a prolific executioner. It has carried out no more than a few hundred ...