Electric chair
Silla eléctrica
- Date
- 1890 · confidence high
- Place
- Auburn, New York, United States
- Credited to
- Alfred P. Southwick (concept, 1881); Harold P. Brown (device design)
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
Dentist Alfred Southwick proposed in 1881 using electricity as a method of execution after learning of a fatal electrical accident; Harold P. Brown refined the design through animal experiments. William Kemmler was executed with it on 6 August 1890 at Auburn Prison, the first execution in history by electric chair.
Its development took place amid the 'war of currents': Harold P. Brown, aligned with Edison, promoted the use of alternating current (associated with Westinghouse) in the chair to discredit it against the direct current championed by Edison.
What it led to
- Adoption of the electric chair as a legal method of execution in several US states
- Public instrumentalisation of the 'war of currents' between Edison and Westinghouse
- Medical and legal debate over the pain and reliability of electrocution