The electric chair was invented by a dentist. Humane execution by electric chair

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Application

The electric chair was first used in the United States on August 6, 1890, at Auburn State Penitentiary in New York. William Kemmler, the murderer, became the first person to be executed in this manner. Eleven years later, in the same prison, Leon Czolgosz, the assassin of President McKinley, was executed in the electric chair. During the 20th century it was used in 26 states, but in last decades it was actively replaced by other forms of execution (for example, lethal injection) and is now used quite rarely. From 1952 to 1976 it was also used in the Philippines.

Currently, it can be used in seven states - Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia at the choice of the convicted person along with lethal injection, and in Kentucky and Tennessee only those who committed a crime before a certain date have the right to choose the use of the electric chair (in Kentucky - April 1, 1998, Tennessee - January 1, 1999). In Tennessee and Virginia, the electric chair can also be used if the components for lethal injection are not found. In Nebraska, the electric chair was used as the only method of execution, but on February 8, 2008, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that it was "cruel and unusual punishment" prohibited by the constitution. In Arkansas and Oklahoma, it can be used only in strictly specified cases, for example, if all other methods of execution are found unconstitutional at the time of execution.

During 2001, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016, this method of execution was not used even once, in all other years of the 21st century - once. In Kentucky and Nebraska, the electric chair was used in last time in 1997, in Georgia - in 1998 ( further use was prohibited Supreme Court Georgia in 2001), Florida in 1999, Alabama in 2002, Tennessee in 2007, South Carolina in 2008. IN last years The electric chair is used only in Virginia (between 2009 and 2013, three people sentenced to death were executed by electric chair death penalty) .

The last known use of the electric chair was recorded on January 16, 2013, when Robert Gleason, a prisoner who killed two fellow inmates in order to receive a death sentence, was executed in Virginia.

Device and principle of operation

The electric chair is a chair made of dielectric material with armrests and a high back, equipped with belts to firmly secure the prisoner. The arms are attached to the armrests, the legs are secured in special clamps on the chair legs. The chair also comes with a special helmet. Electrical contacts are connected to the ankle attachment points and to the helmet. Part technical support step-up transformer included. During the execution, an alternating current with a voltage of about 2700 is supplied to the contacts; a current limiting system maintains the current through the body of the convicted person 5. The current and voltage are limited to prevent the condemned person from catching fire during execution.

The chair's power management system has power-on protection that must be deactivated immediately before execution. responsible person using a special key. According to one version, the chair may have one or more control switches, by pressing which the current is turned on. In this case, they are turned on simultaneously by different executioners, and in reality only one of them turns on the current. This procedure is used to ensure that no one, including the perpetrators themselves, can know who actually carried out the execution (similar to the widespread known species execution, when part of the shooters is given a weapon loaded with blank cartridges).

Execution procedure

The condemned person is seated in an electric chair, his arms are attached to the armrests, and his legs are attached to the leg contacts. Before putting down the helmet, a hood is put on the suicide bomber’s head, or his eyes are covered. The helmet is placed on the convict's head, where the hair on the top of the head is shaved before execution. A sponge soaked in saline solution to ensure minimum electrical resistance contact of the helmet with the head and, thus, hasten death and alleviate the physical suffering of the convicted person. The torso is secured with additional straps.

After turning off the protection system, the executioner turns on the current. The voltage is turned on twice, for one minute, with a break of 10 seconds (in different designs number of starts and time intervals may vary). After turning off the power, the doctor must make sure that the convicted person is dead. In some US states and countries, if death does not occur, the operation may continue. William Vandiver was killed only after the fifth shock.

Story

The creation of the electric chair is associated with the name of Thomas Edison. In the 1980s in the USA, Edison, who organized the first direct current power supply system, actively competed with new power supply systems based on alternating current, which was called the war of currents. Edison convinced consumers of the shortcomings of his competitors' systems and propagated the dangers of such systems, including conducting 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 death penalty (until the 80s of the 19th century, hanging was mainly used in the USA. Every now and then, horrifying scenes of too long and painful executions leaked to the press: even the most experienced the executioner sometimes could not foresee the nuances, and death occurred not from a fracture of the vertebrae, as was supposed, but from strangulation, which was more painful.

The ever-increasing use of electricity was naturally accompanied by periodic accidents that resulted in deaths. In 1881, in Buffalo, New York, dentist Albert Southwick accidentally witnessed the death of an elderly drunk who touched contacts. electric generator. Amazed by how quickly and seemingly painlessly his death occurred, Southwick turned to his friend, Senator David McMillan, with a proposal to replace the rope with wires. He asked the New York State Legislature to consider the use of electricity in the death penalty to eliminate hanging. In 1886, a commission was created to study the question of "the most humane and commendable method of carrying out death sentences." At this stage, the famous Thomas Edison joined the history of the electric chair, so tenaciously that this chair, by analogy with the guillotine, could be called “Edisonine” (although the prison population of America calls it “yellow mother” or “ old smokehouse"). The inventor set up in West Orange (English) Russian(New Jersey) illustrative experiment: several cats and dogs were lured onto a metal plate under a voltage of 1000 V alternating current. In 1888, the New York State Legislature passed a law establishing electrocution as the state's method of carrying out death sentences.

In the second half of 1888, inventor Harold Brown and Columbia University employee Fred Peterson conducted research at Edison's laboratories on the use of electricity for capital punishment. Over the course of several months, more than two dozen dogs were electrocuted; based on the results of the experiments, on December 12, 1888, the group presented a report to the New York State Forensic Society, which recommended the electric chair as an execution weapon (other options were considered, including the tank with water and table with rubber coating). On January 1, 1889, the Electrical Execution Law came into force in New York State.

An opponent of the electric chair was George Westinghouse, who had previously developed a system for supplying consumers with alternating current electricity, Edison's main competitor. After the electrocution law was enacted, Westinghouse refused to supply alternating current generators to prisons, forcing Edison and Brown to purchase generators through a roundabout route.

The first people sentenced to death by electric chair were William Kemmler and Joseph Chapleau (the first for the murder of his mistress, the second for the murder of his neighbor). Chapleau was pardoned and received a life sentence. Westinghouse also tried to save Kemmler, for which he hired lawyers who demanded an appeal of the verdict on the basis that execution by electric chair falls under the definition of “cruel and unusual punishment” prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution, but the appeals were rejected.

In 1890, Edwin Davis, an electrician at the Auburn jail, developed the first current model electric chair. On August 6, 1890, William Kemmler was the first person in the world to be executed by electric chair at Auburn Prison. Although one of the reporters said: “He was not in pain at all!”, in reality the execution did not go entirely smoothly: after the first turn on of the current, Kemmler was still alive, the current had to be turned on a second time. George Westinghouse commented on the execution with the words: “They would have done better with an axe” (Kemmler killed his mistress with an ax).

In 1896, the electric chair was introduced in Ohio, in 1898 - in Massachusetts, in 1906 - in New Jersey, in 1908 - in Virginia, in 1910 - in North Carolina. Over the next ten years, it was legalized in more than ten more states and became the most popular execution weapon in America. In just over a hundred years of use, the electric chair has executed more than 4,300 people.

Conceived as a means of discrediting AC power systems, the electric chair failed to perform precisely this function. Despite its appearance, the use of alternating current expanded. Edison was later forced to admit that he had underestimated the advantages of alternating current. In 1912, Westinghouse was awarded the Edison Medal for his achievements in developing this technology.

Outside the US

“Slave owner” Alexander Komin from Vyatskie Polyan used a homemade electric chair to kill one of his prisoners.

Notorious people executed by electric chair

William Kemmler (New York) is the first man in the world to be executed in the electric chair.
Martha Place (New York) - the first woman to be executed in the electric chair.
Leon Czolgosz (New York) - assassin of President McKinley.
Chester Gillette (New York, New York) is a murderer who became the prototype for a fictional character in Theodore Dreiser's novel An American Tragedy.
Charles Becker (English) Russian(, New York) - New York police officer, the first police officer in the United States sentenced to death for murder.
Sacco and Vanzetti (Massachusetts) - executed on trumped-up charges, became a textbook example of persecution for political reasons.
Giuseppe Zangara (Florida) - attempted the life of President-elect Franklin Roosevelt and killed the mayor of Chicago.
Albert Fish (, New York) - Serial killer, known as "Moon Maniac", "The Gray Ghost", "The Brooklyn Vampire", "The Boogie Man", "The Werewolf of Wisteria".
Bruno Richard Hauptmann (English) Russian(, New Jersey) - German criminal convicted of the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr.
Anna Marie Khan (Ohio) is an American serial killer.
Herman and Paul Petrillo (Pennsylvania) are the leaders of the Philadelphia poison ring gang of hitmen.
Herbert Haupt, Edward John Curling, Richard Quirin, Heinrich Harm Heinck, Hermann Otto Neubauer, Werner Thiel (Washington) - German agents during World War II, participants in Operation Pastorius (English) Russian.
Louis Lepke (, New York) - a famous American gangster of the 1930s, the only mafia leader in the United States sentenced to death.
Lina Baker is an African-American woman who was executed for the murder of her employer.

On August 6, 1890, humanity wrote new page into your history. Scientific and technological progress has also reached such a specific type of activity as the execution of death sentences. The first execution by electric chair was carried out in the United States of America.

The “electric chair” indirectly owes its appearance to the famous inventor Thomas Edison. In the 1880s, the “War of Currents” broke out in the United States - a struggle between direct and alternating current power supply systems. Adept of systems direct current was Edison, variable - Nikola Tesla.

Edison, trying to tip the scales in his favor, pointed out the extreme dangers of alternating current systems. For clarity, the inventor sometimes demonstrated creepy experiments, killing animals with alternating current.

In American society of the late 19th century, literally in love with electricity, the issue of humanizing the death penalty was simultaneously discussed. Many believed that hanging was too great an atrocity that should be replaced with a more humane method of killing.

It is not surprising that the idea of electrocution has become extremely popular.

Observational dentist

First thought about " electric car death" came to the mind of an American dentist Albert Southwick. One day, before his eyes, a middle-aged drunk touched the contacts of an electric generator. The death of the unfortunate man was instantaneous.

Southwick, who witnessed this scene, shared his observation with his patient and friend David McMillan.

Mr. McMillan was a senator and, considering Southwick's proposal to be practical, he approached the New York State Legislature with an initiative to introduce a new, “progressive” method of execution.

The discussion of the initiative continued for about two years, and the number of supporters of the new method of execution was constantly growing. Among those who were both in favor was Thomas Edison.

In 1888, a series of additional experiments on killing animals were carried out in Edison’s laboratories, after which the authorities received a positive conclusion from experts about the possibility of using the “electric chair” for the death penalty. On January 1, 1889, the Electrical Execution Law came into effect in New York State.

Supporters of the use of alternating current in everyday life strongly opposed its use for murder, but were powerless.

In 1890, an electrician for the Auburn prison Edwin Davis built the first working model of the new “death machine”.

Electrocution. The illustration was made after experiments on the feasibility of carrying out the death penalty in 1888. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Humane theory

The humanity of execution, according to supporters of the invention, was that electricity rapidly destroys the brain and nervous system sentenced, thereby saving him from suffering. The executed person loses consciousness within thousandths of a second, and the pain simply does not have time to reach the brain during this time.

The “electric chair” itself is a chair made of dielectric material with armrests and a high back, equipped with belts to firmly secure the sentenced person. The arms are attached to the armrests, the legs are secured in special clamps on the chair legs. The chair also comes with a special helmet. Electrical contacts are connected to the ankle attachment points and to the helmet. The current limiting system is designed so that the body of the condemned person does not catch fire during the execution.

After the condemned person is seated on a chair and restrained, a helmet is placed on his head. Before this, the hair on the top of the head is shaved. The eyes are either covered with a plaster or a black hood is simply put on the head. A sponge soaked in saline solution is inserted into the helmet: this is done in order to ensure minimal electrical contact resistance between the helmet and the head and thus speed up death and alleviate the physical suffering of the person being executed.

Then the current is turned on, which is supplied twice for one minute each with a break of 10 seconds. It is believed that by the time the second minute expires, the condemned person must be dead.

Critics of the “electric chair” pointed out from the very beginning that all discussions about its humanity are purely theoretical, and in practice everything can turn out completely differently.

First "client"

There were two candidates to go down in history as the first victim of the electric chair - Joseph Chapleau who killed a neighbor, and William Kemmler, who hacked to death his mistress with an ax.

As a result, Chapleau’s lawyers achieved a pardon, and Kemmler got the “honor” of trying out the new invention on himself.

By the time of his execution, William Kemmler was 30 years old. His parents were immigrants from Germany who did not build new life, but they simply drank themselves to death and died, leaving their son an orphan.

The difficult childhood also affected his future life, which did not spoil Kemmler. In the spring of 1889, after a quarrel with his mistress Tilly Ziegler the man killed her with an ax blow.

The court sentenced Kemmler to death, which was to be carried out in the electric chair.

Lawyers, citing the US Constitution, which prohibits "cruel and unusual punishment", tried to have the court's decision overturned, but their appeal was rejected.

On August 6, 1890, at 6 a.m., in the Auburn prison, the first electrical discharge ran through the body of William Kemmler.

"Fried" facts

The opinion of the witnesses to the execution, of which there were more than twenty people, turned out to be extremely unanimous - Kemmler’s killing looked extremely disgusting. One reporter wrote that the condemned man was literally “roasted to death.”

The journalist's external impression was not so deceptive. Forensic physicians who worked with the bodies of those executed in the “electric chair” said that the brain, which was exposed to the strongest effects of the current, turned out to be practically boiled.

Despite the negative impressions of witnesses to the execution of William Kemmler, the “electric chair” began to rapidly gain popularity. By the end of the first decade of the 20th century, it had become the most popular method of death penalty in the United States.

Executed at his own request

Abroad, however, this kind of execution has not become widespread. And in the United States itself, in the 1970s, the “electric chair” gradually began to be replaced by lethal injection.

Over the entire history of the use of the electric chair, more than 4,300 people were executed with it.

Currently, eight states officially retain the electrocution. However, in practice, this execution is resorted to less and less often, including due to technical difficulties. The newest “samples” of these “death machines” are today more than thirty years old, and some are already more than 70, so they often malfunction during executions.

In a number of US states, there is a rule according to which the criminal himself can choose the method of execution. This is exactly what a 42-year-old man, executed in January 2013 in Virginia, did. Robert Gleason. Sentenced in 2007 to life imprisonment for the murder of an FBI agent, Gleason killed two of his cellmates in prison, explaining his actions with a desire to go to... the electric chair. Moreover, the criminal promised to continue killing fellow inmates if he was not given such an opportunity. As a result, Robert Gleason achieved his goal, becoming, perhaps, one of the last “clients” in the history of the “electric chair”.

Who invented the electric chair? Carpenter, electrician, scientist - these are the options that come to mind. You may be surprised to learn that this person's profession was different. In this article we will answer the question: who invented the electric chair? It requires detailed consideration, since the history associated with it is very interesting. Thomas Edison invented the incandescent lamp at the end of the 19th century. Of course, this man is not the one who invented the electric chair. However, this was the first step towards many discoveries related to electricity. This invention, in particular, allowed us to use it to illuminate cities.

Albert Southwick's idea

Many people are interested in the question: who was the creator of the new method of execution? Albert Southwick is believed to be the one who invented the electric chair. His profession is dentist. This man was from Buffalo, New York. The one who invented the electric chair (his profession, as you can see, is somewhat unexpected), believed that it could be used as an anesthetic in medical practice. One day, Albert saw one of the residents of Buffalo touch the exposed wires. This man died, as Southwick thought then, painlessly and almost instantly. This incident led him to the idea that execution with electricity could replace, as a faster and more humane punishment, hanging, which was used at that time. Southwick first proposed using electricity to get rid of unwanted animals instead of drowning them. Colonel Rockwell, head of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, liked the idea.

Commission conclusion

Southwick conducted a series of experiments on animals in 1882 and published his results in scientific newspapers. It was Albert who is often credited with inventing the electric chair. However, many people took part in its development. In particular, Southwick showed the results of his experiments to David MacMillan, a senator and his friend. He stated that execution using electricity is painless, which is its main advantage. McMillian advocated maintaining the death penalty. He was attracted to this idea as an argument against its abolition. McMillian conveyed what he heard to D. B. Hill, the governor of New York. In 1886, a special commission was created, which included Southwick (the profession of the man who invented the electric chair was a dentist, as already mentioned), Eluridge Gerry (a politician) and Matthew Hale (a judge). Her conclusion, which was set out in a 95-page report, was that best method execution of a death sentence - execution with the use of electricity. The State was recommended in this report to replace it with the new kind execution: hanging.

Death penalty law

In 1888, on June 5, the governor signed a corresponding law, which was supposed to come into force in 1889. It remained to decide what type of electric current should be used: alternating or direct. How are they different? Let's figure it out.

AC and DC current

Scientists from various countries long before the invention made by Thomas Edison. However, Edison (pictured below) was the first to put into practice the theory developed before him. In 1879 the first power station was built. Edison's system operated on direct current. However, it only flows in one direction, so it was impossible to supply current over a long distance. It was necessary to build power plants to supply the city average size electricity.

Nikola Tesla, a Croatian scientist, found a solution. He came up with the idea of using alternating current, which can change its direction several times per second, creating a magnetic field and without losing electrical voltage. Can be lowered or raised AC voltage using transformers. Such current can be transmitted over long distances with small losses, after which electricity can be supplied to consumers through a step-down transformer.

Starting to use AC

This system attracted investors, one of whom was George Westinghouse (pictured below).

He wanted to make the use of alternating current profitable, but Edison's technology was more popular at the time. It was Edison who worked for Tesla, but he did not pay attention to his developments, and Tesla quit. The scientist soon patented his ideas. Westinghouse bought 40 patents from Tesla in 1888, and within a few years more than a hundred cities were using the alternating current system.

"Clash of the Titans"

In 1887, Edison began to discredit this system by demanding the collection of information from his workers about deaths caused by alternating current. So he hoped to prove that his method was safer for the population.

Clash of the Titans began when the question arose about what type of current should be used for capital punishment. Nikola Tesla (pictured below) at the same time avoided any statements addressed to Thomas and preferred to remain silent. But Thomas smashed Tesla with his characteristic categoricalness and enthusiasm. The “War of Currents” lasted until 2007! In New York, it was only in the 21st century that the last DC wires were symbolically cut. The entire network of America and the whole world was finally transferred to alternating current.

Edison's brochure and speech

Since Edison did not want his invention to be associated in any way with death, he wanted alternating current to be used in an apparatus intended for the death penalty. The scientist published the brochure "Warning" in 1887. In it, he compared direct current with alternating current and pointed out the safety of the latter.

Thomas Edison's speech before the commission made a strong impression. The inventor convinced everyone present that when using alternating current, death from electricity is quick and painless. The commission to resolve this issue was faced with the alternative of using lethal injection, which is considered more humane than execution by electric chair. It was in the 20th century that almost all states where the death penalty existed began to use it. Perhaps many would not have had to suffer in the electric chair if there had not been competition between companies, as well as Thomas Edison’s persuasive speech before the commission. The question was also that executions by lethal injection are carried out by doctors, which for obvious reasons is impossible.

First execution

In 1889, on January 1, the first execution took place using such an invention as the electric chair (its photo is presented below). The unit used for it was called a Westing chair, or Westinghouse chair, until several decades later. The following executions took place in the spring of 1891. Four people were executed for various crimes. The method of carrying out the sentence has been adjusted. The generator has become more powerful and the wires have become thicker. The 2nd electrode was connected to the arm, not to the spine. These executions went more smoothly, and public opinion a new method was adopted.

Execution of William Kemmler

William Kemmler, who killed his common-law wife with an ax, was the first “tester” of this innovation. He was executed in the city of Obernai in 1890, on August 6. For obvious reasons, he was unable to describe his feelings. Whoever invented the electric chair could not have foreseen what happened. Witnesses present during the execution of the sentence noted that the criminal was still alive 15-20 seconds after the 1st discharge. I had to turn on the current for a longer time and with a higher voltage. The “experiment” was still painfully and long brought to the end. This execution caused many protests from the world and American public.

Murder by electric chair

Let us describe the technology of murder using the electric chair. The criminal sits on him and he is tied up leather belts to the chair, securing the chest, hips, ankles and wrists. 2 copper electrodes are fixed on the body: one on the leg (for better implementation electricity, the skin underneath is shaved), and the other is on the shaved top of the head. The electrodes are usually lubricated with a special gel to reduce skin burning and improve current conduction. An opaque mask is placed on the face.

The executioner presses the switch button on the control panel, thereby delivering the 1st charge, the voltage of which ranges from 1700 to 2400 volts, and the duration is approximately 30-60 seconds. The timer is set in advance and the current is automatically turned off. After two charges, the doctor examines the body of the criminal, because he may still not be killed. Death occurs as a result of respiratory paralysis and cardiac arrest.

Improvement

However, modern executors have concluded that instant cardiac arrest (i.e. clinical death) does not cause current to pass through the brain. It only prolongs the suffering. Criminals are now cut and electrodes are inserted into the right thigh and left shoulder in order for the charge to pass through the heart and aorta.

The electric chair is a cruel punishment

Does it really matter who invented the electric chair: a carpenter or an electrician? More importantly, this method of punishment is inhumane. Although all methods of execution are cruel to one degree or another, it is the electric chair that often produces tragic malfunctions that cause additional suffering to the condemned, especially in cases where the equipment used is in need of repair or is old. This led to the fact that this type the death penalty was declared inapplicable under the influence of Leo Jones, a famous American human rights activist, cruel punishment which is contrary to the US Constitution.

Now you know who invented the electric chair. Dentist Albert Southwick, apparently, had no idea what fate awaited the idea that came into his head. Today this method of execution has become one of the symbols of the United States. But the electric chair was invented by a dentist who just wanted to alleviate people's suffering.

Who's the chair? Carpenter, electrician, scientist - these are the options that come to mind. You may be surprised to learn that this person's profession was different. In this article we will answer the question: who invented the electric chair? It requires detailed consideration, since the history associated with it is very interesting. At the end of the 19th century he invented the incandescent lamp. Of course, this man is not the one who invented the electric chair. However, this was the first step towards many discoveries related to electricity. This invention, in particular, allowed us to use it to illuminate cities.

Albert Southwick's idea

Many people are interested in the question: who was the creator of the new method of execution? Albert Southwick is believed to be the one who invented the electric chair. His profession is dentist. This man was from Buffalo, New York. The one who invented the electric chair (his profession, as you can see, is somewhat unexpected), believed that it could be used as an anesthetic in medical practice. One day, Albert saw one of the residents of Buffalo touch him. This man died, as Southwick thought then, painlessly and almost instantly. This incident led him to the idea that execution with electricity could replace, as a faster and more humane punishment, hanging, which was used at that time. Southwick first proposed using electricity to get rid of unwanted animals instead of drowning them. Colonel Rockwell, head of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, liked the idea.

Commission conclusion

Southwick conducted a series of experiments on animals in 1882 and published his results in scientific newspapers. It was Albert who is often credited with inventing the electric chair. However, many people took part in its development. In particular, Southwick showed the results of his experiments to David MacMillan, a senator and his friend. He stated that execution using electricity is painless, which is its main advantage. McMillian advocated maintaining the death penalty. He was attracted to this idea as an argument against its abolition. McMillian conveyed what he heard to D. B. Hill, the governor of New York. In 1886, a special commission was created, which included Southwick (the profession of the man who invented the electric chair was a dentist, as already mentioned), Eluridge Gerry (a politician) and Matthew Hale (a judge). Her conclusion, which was outlined in a 95-page report, was that the best method of carrying out the death penalty was electrocution. The report recommended that the state replace hanging with a new form of execution.

Death penalty law

In 1888, on June 5, the governor signed a corresponding law, which was supposed to come into force in 1889. The only thing left to decide was whether to use type or constant. How are they different? Let's figure it out.

AC and DC current

Scientists from various countries have been working on this issue long before the invention made by Thomas Edison. However, Edison (pictured below) was the first to put into practice the theory developed before him. In 1879 the first power station was built. Edison's system operated on direct current. However, it only flows in one direction, so it was impossible to supply current over a long distance. It was necessary to build power plants to provide electricity to a medium-sized city.

Nikola Tesla, a Croatian scientist, found a solution. He came up with the idea of using alternating current, which can change its direction several times per second, creating a magnetic field and without losing electrical voltage. You can step down or step up AC voltage using transformers. Such current can be transmitted over long distances with small losses, after which electricity can be supplied to consumers through a step-down transformer.

Starting to use AC

This system attracted investors, one of whom was George Westinghouse (pictured below).

He wanted to make it profitable to use, but Edison's technology was more popular at that time. It was Edison who worked for Tesla, but he did not pay attention to his developments, and Tesla quit. The scientist soon patented his ideas. Westinghouse bought 40 patents from Tesla in 1888, and within a few years more than a hundred cities were using the alternating current system.

"Clash of the Titans"

Edison's brochure and speech

First execution

Execution of William Kemmler

Murder by electric chair

Let us describe the technology of murder using the electric chair. The criminal sits on it and is tied with leather straps to the chair, securing the chest, thighs, ankles and wrists. 2 copper electrodes are attached to the body: one on the leg (the skin underneath is shaved for better conduction of electricity), and the other on the shaved top of the head. The electrodes are usually lubricated with a special gel to reduce skin burning and improve current conduction. An opaque mask is placed on the face.

Improvement

However, modern executors have concluded that instant cardiac arrest (that is, clinical death) is not caused by the passage of current through the brain. It only prolongs the suffering. Criminals are now cut and electrodes are inserted into the right thigh and left shoulder to send the charge through the heart and aorta.

The electric chair is a cruel punishment

Does it really matter who invented the electric chair: a carpenter or an electrician? More importantly, this method of punishment is inhumane. Although all methods of execution are cruel to one degree or another, it is the electric chair that often produces tragic malfunctions that cause additional suffering to the condemned, especially in cases where the equipment used is in need of repair or is old. This led to the fact that this type of death penalty was recognized under the influence of Leo Jones, a famous American human rights activist, as an inapplicable, cruel punishment that is contrary to the US Constitution.

Invented for humane reasons, the electric chair turned out to be one of the most cruel methods of death penalty.

War of Currents

On August 6, 1890, humanity wrote a new page in its history. Scientific and technological progress has also reached such a specific type of activity as the execution of death sentences. The first execution by electric chair was carried out in the United States of America.
The “electric chair” indirectly owes its appearance to the famous inventor Thomas Edison. In the 1880s, the “war of currents” broke out in the United States - a struggle between direct and alternating current power supply systems. Edison was an adept of direct current systems, and Nikola Tesla was an adept of alternating current systems.
Edison, trying to tip the scales in his favor, pointed out the extreme dangers of alternating current systems. For clarity, the inventor sometimes demonstrated creepy experiments, killing animals with alternating current.
In American society of the late 19th century, literally in love with electricity, the issue of humanizing the death penalty was simultaneously discussed. Many believed that hanging was too great an atrocity that should be replaced with a more humane method of killing.
It is not surprising that the idea of electrocution has become extremely popular.

Observational dentist

At first, the idea of an “electric death machine” came to the mind of the American dentist Albert Southwick. One day, before his eyes, a middle-aged drunk touched the contacts of an electric generator. The death of the unfortunate man was instantaneous.
Southwick, who witnessed this scene, shared his observation with his patient and friend David McMillan.
Mr. McMillan was a senator and, considering Southwick's proposal to be practical, he approached the New York State Legislature with an initiative to introduce a new, “progressive” method of execution.
The discussion of the initiative continued for about two years, and the number of supporters of the new method of execution was constantly growing. Among those who were both in favor was Thomas Edison.
In 1888, a series of additional experiments on killing animals were carried out in Edison’s laboratories, after which the authorities received a positive conclusion from experts about the possibility of using the “electric chair” for the death penalty. On January 1, 1889, the Electrical Execution Law came into effect in New York State.
Supporters of the use of alternating current in everyday life strongly opposed its use for murder, but were powerless.
In 1890, Auburn prison electrician Edwin Davis built the first working model of the new “death machine.”

Humane theory

The humanity of execution, according to supporters of the invention, lay in the fact that the electric current rapidly destroys the brain and nervous system of the condemned person, thereby relieving him of suffering. The executed person loses consciousness within thousandths of a second, and the pain simply does not have time to reach the brain during this time.
The “electric chair” itself is a chair made of dielectric material with armrests and a high back, equipped with belts to firmly secure the sentenced person. The arms are attached to the armrests, the legs are secured in special clamps on the chair legs. The chair also comes with a special helmet. Electrical contacts are connected to the ankle attachment points and to the helmet. The current limiting system is designed so that the body of the condemned person does not catch fire during the execution.
After the condemned person is seated on a chair and restrained, a helmet is placed on his head. Before this, the hair on the top of the head is shaved. The eyes are either covered with a plaster or a black hood is simply put on the head. A sponge soaked in saline solution is inserted into the helmet: this is done in order to ensure minimal electrical contact resistance between the helmet and the head and thus speed up death and alleviate the physical suffering of the person being executed.
Then the current is turned on, which is supplied twice for one minute each with a break of 10 seconds. It is believed that by the time the second minute expires, the condemned person must be dead.
Critics of the “electric chair” pointed out from the very beginning that all discussions about its humanity are purely theoretical, and in practice everything can turn out completely differently.

First "client"

There were two candidates to go down in history as the first victim of the electric chair - Joseph Chapleau, who killed his neighbor, and William Kemmler, who hacked to death his mistress with an ax.
As a result, Chapleau’s lawyers achieved a pardon, and Kemmler got the “honor” of trying out the new invention on himself.
By the time of his execution, William Kemmler was 30 years old. His parents were emigrants from Germany, who did not build a new life in America, but simply drank themselves to death and died, leaving their son an orphan.
The difficult childhood also affected his future life, which did not spoil Kemmler. In the spring of 1889, after a quarrel with his mistress Tilly Ziegler, a man killed her with an ax.
The court sentenced Kemmler to death, which was to be carried out in the electric chair.
Lawyers, citing the US Constitution, which prohibits "cruel and unusual punishment", tried to have the court's decision overturned, but their appeal was rejected.
On August 6, 1890, at 6 a.m., in the Auburn prison, the first electrical discharge ran through the body of William Kemmler.

"Fried" facts

Everything did not go as the theorists described. Kemmler's body convulsed so much that the prison doctor, confused by what he saw, gave the command to turn off the current in less than 20 seconds, and not in a minute, as planned. At first it seemed that Kemmler was dead, but then he began to take convulsive breaths and moan. A new killing attempt required time to recharge the device. Finally, the current was given a second time, this time for one minute. Kemmler's body began to smoke, and the smell of burnt meat spread throughout the room. After a minute, the doctor stated that the convict was dead.
The opinion of the witnesses, of whom there were more than twenty people, turned out to be extremely unanimous - Kemmler’s killing looked extremely disgusting. One reporter wrote that the condemned man was literally “roasted to death.”
The journalist's external impression was not so deceptive. Forensic physicians who worked with the bodies of those executed in the “electric chair” said that the brain, which was exposed to the strongest effects of the current, turned out to be practically boiled.
Despite the negative impressions of witnesses to the execution of William Kemmler, the “electric chair” began to rapidly gain popularity. By the end of the first decade of the 20th century, it had become the most popular method of death penalty in the United States.

Executed at his own request

Abroad, however, this kind of execution has not become widespread. And in the United States itself, in the 1970s, the “electric chair” gradually began to be replaced by lethal injection.
Over the entire history of the use of the electric chair, more than 4,300 people were executed with it.
Currently, eight states officially retain the electrocution. However, in practice, this execution is resorted to less and less often, including due to technical difficulties. The newest “samples” of these “death machines” are today more than thirty years old, and some are already more than 70, so they often malfunction during executions.
In a number of US states, there is a rule according to which the criminal himself can choose the method of execution. This is exactly what 42-year-old Robert Gleason, executed in January 2013 in Virginia, did. Sentenced in 2007 to life imprisonment for the murder of an FBI agent, Gleason killed two of his cellmates in prison, explaining his actions with a desire to go to... the electric chair. Moreover, the criminal promised to continue killing fellow inmates if he was not given such an opportunity. As a result, Robert Gleason achieved his goal, becoming, perhaps, one of the last “clients” in the history of the “electric chair”.