120 since first electric chair execution

[scouse mac]

120 years ago today, William Kemmler was executed by electric chair, the first man to be so.

Despite the fact he murdered his common law wife with a hatchet, it sounds like he suffered a great deal as the Thomas Edison approved DC current chair took its sweet time in killing him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Kemmler

[Ferox13]

Ironically he fried an elephant sometiemlaster with AC current to prove how dangerous it was (and to discredit Tesla)

[neverending]

Hmmm... I had read that Edison campaigned to get the AC electric chair approved because he wanted people to be frightened of AC current...

[Ferox13]

Originally Posted by neverending

Hmmm... I had read that Edison campaigned to get the AC electric chair approved because he wanted people to be frightened of AC current...

Yeah - it was mostly to discredit AC because it was a rivial system to Direct current. He also had a dislike for Tesla though he once worked for Edison..

I always got the impression that Tesla was a superior inventor than Edison but lacked any real business skills.