Electric chair

1.

Electric chair

2.

What is
this?
Electric chair
effecto
costly
informally
i
d fficulty in operation
a device designed to kill a sentenced person with a high voltage
alternating electric current passed through his body. It was
invented by Alfred Southwick in the USA and has been used
there since the end of the 19th century, being a classic form of
the death penalty.

3.

History of
creation
The creation of the electric chair is associated with the
name of Thomas Edison. In the 1880s in the United
States, Edison, who organized the first DC power supply
system, actively competed with the new AC-based
power supply systems, which was called the war of
currents. Edison convinced consumers of the
shortcomings of the competitor's system, promoted
the danger of such systems, including public
experiments on killing animals with alternating current.
These events coincided with the discussion
that began in the country about choosing a
more humane method of the death penalty
(until the 80s of the 19th century, hanging was
mainly used in the USA). Every now and then,
horrific scenes of a too long and painful
execution leaked into the press: even the most
experienced executioner sometimes could not
foresee the nuances, and death did not come
from a fracture of the vertebrae, as it was
supposed to, but from strangulation, which is
more painful.

4.

Next
In the latter half of 1888, inventor
Harold Brown and Columbia University
employee Fred Peterson conducted
research in the Edison Laboratories
on the use of electricity for the
death penalty. Within a few months,
more than two dozen dogs were
electrocuted, according to the
results of the experiments, on
December 12, 1888, the group
presented a report to the New York
State Forensic Society recommending
an electric chair as an execution
tool (other options were also
considered, including a tank with
In 1890, Edwin Davis, an electrician at Auburn
Jail, developed the first working model of the
electric chair. On August 6, 1890, William
Kemmler was the first person in the world to
be executed in the electric chair at Auburn
Prison. Although one of the reporters stated:
“He didn’t hurt at all!”, In reality, the execution
did not go quite smoothly: after the first turn
on of the current, Kemmler was still alive, the
current had to be turned on again. George
Westinghouse commented on the execution
with the words: "They would have done better
with an ax" (Kemmler killed his mistress with
an ax).

5.

Ohio
In 1896, the electric chair was
introduced in Ohio, in 1898 in
Massachusetts, in 1906 in New
Jersey, in 1908 in Virginia, and
in 1910 in North Carolina. Over
the next ten years, it was
legalized in more than ten states
and became the most popular
execution tool in America. In
just over a hundred years of use,
more than 4,300 people have been
executed
in the electric chair.
Conceived as a means of discrediting
AC
power systems, the electric chair just
failed to perform this function. Despite
its appearance, the use of alternating
current expanded. Later, Edison was
forced to admit that he underestimated
the benefits of alternating current. In
1912, Westinghouse was awarded the
Edison Medal for his achievements in the
development of this technology.