Homicide is the act of one person causing the death of another, and it can result from accidental, reckless, or negligent actions—not just intentional harm. These acts are divided into overlapping legal categories like murder, manslaughter, justifiable homicide, and euthanasia, which are treated very differently by societies and legal systems. A striking statistic from a United Nations report (July 2019) revealed that nearly 464,000 people were killed in homicides in 2017, vastly outnumbering the 89,000 killed in armed conflicts that year. Murder, the most serious charge, is typically split into first-degree (premeditated) and second-degree (intentional but unpremeditated), and in the U.S., the felony murder rule can make a person guilty of murder if a death occurs during a dangerous crime, regardless of intent. Manslaughter is a lesser charge, divided into voluntary (heat of passion) and involuntary (recklessness or negligence), with its distinction from murder first attributed to the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th century BC. Ultimately, the legal classification of a homicide hinges on the perpetrator's state of mind, intent, and the circumstances surrounding the death.