Who invented the electric chair Who invented the electric chair? AC and DC

Who invented the electric chair? Carpenter, electrician, scientist - such options come to mind. You will probably 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 curious. Thomas Edison invented the incandescent light bulb in the late 19th century. Of course, this person 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.

An idea that came to Albert Southwick

Many 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 a dentist. This man was from Buffalo, New York. Whoever invented the electric chair (whose profession, as you can see, is somewhat unexpected) believed that it could be used as an anesthetic in medical practice. Once Albert saw one of the inhabitants of Buffalo touch the bare wires. This man died, Southwick thought then, painlessly and almost instantly. This incident led him to the idea that the execution with the use of electricity could replace, as a faster and more humane punishment, the hanging used at that time. Southwick first suggested using electricity to dispose of unwanted animals instead of drowning them. Colonel Rockwell, head of the Society for the Protection of Animals from Cruelty, liked the idea.

Commission conclusion

Southwick in 1882 conducted a series of experiments on animals and published his results in scientific newspapers. It is Albert who is often credited with the invention of 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 the execution using electricity is painless, which is its main advantage. McMillian advocated the retention of the death penalty. This idea attracted him as an argument against its abolition. McMillian relayed what he heard to D. B. Hill, Governor of New York. In 1886, a special commission was set up, which included Southwick (the profession of the man who invented the electric chair - a dentist, as already mentioned), Eluridge Gerry (politician) and Matthew Hale (judge). Her conclusion, which was set out in a 95-page report, was that best method execution of the death sentence - execution with the use of electricity. The State was recommended in this report to replace the new kind execution by hanging.

death penalty law

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

AC and DC

Scientists from various countries long before the invention of Thomas Edison. However, Edison (pictured below) for the first time put into practice the theory developed before him. In 1879 the first power plant was built. The Edison system ran on direct current. However, it only flows in one direction, so it was impossible to supply current to long distance. It was necessary to build power plants to provide the city medium size electricity.

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

Getting Started with 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 for Edison that Tesla worked, 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 more than a hundred cities used the alternating current system within a few years.

"Clash of the Titans"

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

The "clash of the titans" began when the question arose of what type of current should be used to death penalty. Nikola Tesla (pictured below) at the same time avoided any statements about Thomas and preferred to remain silent. But Thomas smashed Tesla with his usual categoricalness and enthusiasm. The "war of the currents" continued 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.

Pamphlet and speech by Edison

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 designed for the death penalty. The scientist in 1887 published the pamphlet "Warning". In it, he compared with a variable D.C. and pointed out the safety of the latter.

The speech before the commission of Thomas Edison 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 an alternative to the use of lethal injection, which is considered more humane than execution on 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 were no competition between companies, as well as Thomas Edison's convincing speech before the commission. The issue was also that execution by lethal injection is 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 an electric chair (its photo is presented below). The unit used for it was called the Westinghouse chair, or the Westinghouse chair, a few decades later. In the spring of 1891, the following executions took place. 4 people were executed for different crimes. The method of execution has been adjusted. Became more powerful generator and thicker wires. The 2nd electrode was connected to the arm and not to the spine. These executions went more smoothly, and a new method was adopted by public opinion.

Execution of William Kemmler

William Kemmler, who killed his civil wife with an ax, was the first "tester" of this innovation. He was executed in the city of Obernai in 1890, on August 6th. He failed to force known causes describe your feelings. Whoever invented the electric chair could not have foreseen what happened. The witnesses who were present at the time of the enactment of the sentence noted that the offender was still alive 15-20 seconds after the 1st category. I had to turn on the current for a longer time and with a higher voltage. The "experiment" was still painfully and for a long time brought to an end. This execution caused a lot of protests of the world and American public.

Electric chair murder

Let us describe the technology of murder using the electric chair. The offender sits on it and is tied with leather straps to a chair, securing the chest, hips, ankles and wrists. 2 copper electrodes are fixed on the body: one on the leg (for better conduction of electricity, the skin under it is shaved), and the other on the shaved crown. The electrodes are usually lubricated with a special gel in order to reduce skin burning and improve current conduction. An opaque mask is put on the face.

The executioner presses the switch button on the control panel, thereby giving the 1st charge, the voltage of which is from 1700 to 2400 volts, and the duration is approximately 30-60 seconds. The timer sets the time in advance and automatically turns off the current. The doctor, after two charges, 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 instantaneous cardiac arrest (i.e. clinical death) does not cause current to pass through the brain. It only prolongs the agony. Criminals are now slashed, and electrodes are inserted into the right thigh and left shoulder in order for the charge to pass through the heart and aorta.

Electric Chair - Cruel Punishment

Does it matter who invented the electric chair: a carpenter or an electrician? More importantly, this method of punishment is inhuman. Although all methods of execution are cruel to some extent, it is the electric chair that often causes tragic malfunctions that cause additional suffering for the condemned, especially in cases where the equipment used is in need of repair or is old. This led to this species The death penalty was recognized under the influence of Leo Jones, a well-known American human rights activist, as an inapplicable, cruel punishment that is contrary to the US Constitution.

Now you know who invented the electric chair. Dentist Albert Southwick, apparently, did not even suspect what fate was in store for the idea that had come 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 the suffering of the people.

Execution in the electric chair until recently was considered one of the most humane ways to kill criminals. However, over the years of application, it turned out that this type of execution is by no means completely painless, but, on the contrary, can cause terrible torment to the convict. What can happen to a person who gets into the electric chair?

History of the electric chair

Criminals were executed in the electric chair in late XIX century, when supporters of the "progressive" society decided that earlier existing species executions such as burning at the stake, hanging and beheading are inhumane. From their point of view, the criminal should not suffer additionally in the process of execution: after all, he is already being deprived of the most precious thing - his life.

It is believed that the first model of the electric chair was invented in 1888 by Harold Brown, who worked for the Thomas Edison Company. According to others, the inventor of the electric chair was the dentist Albert Southwick.

The essence of the execution is this. The convict is shaved head and back of the leg. Then the torso and arms are firmly tied with straps to a chair made of dielectric, with high back and armrests. Legs are fixed with special clamps. At first, the criminals were blindfolded, then they began to put a hood on their heads, and in recent times- a special mask. One electrode is attached to the head, on which the helmet is put on, the other to the leg. The executioner turns on the switch button, which passes through the body an alternating current with a power of up to 5 amperes and a voltage of 1700 to 2400 volts. An execution usually takes about two minutes. Two discharges are given, each is switched on for one minute, the interval between them is 10 seconds. Death, which should occur from cardiac arrest, is mandatory recorded by the doctor.

For the first time this method The execution was applied on August 6, 1890 in the Auburn prison of the US state of New York to William Kemmler, convicted of the murder of his mistress Tilly Zeigler.

Up to now, more than 4,000 people have been executed in this way in the United States. Also, a similar type of execution was used in the Philippines. The communist spouses Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who worked for Soviet intelligence, also ended their lives in the electric chair.

"False" procedure

It was assumed that when passing through the body electric current the person will die immediately. But this did not always happen. Often, eyewitnesses had to observe how people put in an electric chair convulsed, bit their tongues, foam and blood came out of their mouths, their eyes popped out of their sockets, involuntary emptying of the intestines and bladder occurred. Some uttered piercing cries during the execution ... Almost always, after the discharge was applied, a light smoke began to go from the skin and hair of the convict. There have also been cases when a person sitting in an electric chair caught fire and exploded in the head. Quite often, the burnt skin "glued" to the belts and the seat. The bodies of the executed were, as a rule, so hot that it was impossible to touch them, and then the "aroma" of burnt human flesh hovered in the room for a long time.

One of the protocols describes an episode when the convict was exposed to a discharge of 2450 volts for 15 seconds, but a quarter of an hour after the procedure, he was still alive. As a result, the execution had to be repeated three more times, until the offender finally died. The last time, his eyeballs even melted.

In 1985, William Vandiver was electrocuted five times in Indiana. It took 17 minutes to kill him.

According to experts, when exposed to such a high voltage, the human body, including the brain and other internal organs, is literally fried alive. Even if death occurs quickly enough, at least a person feels the strongest muscle spasm throughout the body, as well as acute pain at the points of contact with the skin of the electrodes. This is usually followed by loss of consciousness. Here is the memoir of one of the survivors: “There was a taste of cold peanut butter in my mouth. I felt my head and left leg burning, so I tried with all my might to break free from the bonds. 17-year-old Willie Francis, who sat in the electric chair in 1947, shouted: “Turn it off! Let me breathe!"

Repeatedly, the execution became painful as a result of various failures and malfunctions. So, on May 4, 1990, when the criminal Jesse D. Tafero was executed, a synthetic gasket under the helmet ignited, and the convict received third or fourth degree burns. A similar thing happened on March 25, 1997 with Pedro Medina. In both cases, the current had to be turned on several times. In total, the execution procedure took 6-7 minutes, so it could not be called quick and painless.

The story of the murderer of the whole family, Allen Lee Davis, caused a great resonance, to whom not only his mouth (instead of a gag), but also his nose was sealed with a leather tape before execution. In the end, he suffocated.

Chair or injection?

Over time, it became clear that the "humane" execution is in fact often a painful torture, and its use was limited. True, some people believe that the point here is not at all in humanity, but in the high cost of the procedure.

Currently, electric chair execution is used only in six US states - Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. Moreover, the convict is offered a choice - an electric chair or a lethal injection. The last time the above-mentioned measure was applied on January 16, 2013 in Virginia to Robert Gleason, who deliberately killed two of his cellmates in order to have his life sentence commuted to a death sentence.

In addition, there is a law in the USA: if after the third category the sentenced person survives, then he receives a pardon: they say, it means that this is the will of God ...

On August 6, 1890, mankind entered new page into your history. Scientific and technological progress has reached such a specific kind of activity as the execution of death sentences. In the United States of America, the first death penalty was carried out in the "electric chair".

"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 - the struggle between the power supply systems for direct and alternating current. Edison was an adept of direct current systems, Nikola Tesla was an adept of alternating current systems.

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

In American society at the end of the 19th century, literally in love with electricity, the issue of humanizing the death penalty was simultaneously discussed. Many believed that hanging was too much atrocity, which should be replaced by a more humane way of killing.

It is not surprising that the idea of the death penalty by means of electricity has become extremely popular.

Observant dentist

First, the thought of electric car death" came to the mind of an American dentist Albert Southwick. Once, in front of his eyes, a middle-aged drunkard touched the contacts electric generator. The unfortunate man's death was instantaneous.

Southwick, who witnessed the scene, shared his observation with his patient and friend. David Macmillan.

Mr. Macmillan was a senator and, considering Southwick's proposal sensible, he turned to the New York State Legislature with an initiative to introduce a new, "progressive" method of execution.

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

In 1888, a series of additional experiments on the killing of animals was carried out in Edison's laboratories, after which the authorities received a positive conclusion from experts on the possibility of using the "electric chair" for the death penalty. On January 1, 1889, the Electric Execution Act went into effect in New York State.

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

In 1890, an electrician in the Auburn prison Edwin Davis built the first working model of the new "death machine".

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

Humane theory

The humanity of the execution, according to the supporters of the invention, was that the electric current rapidly destroys the brain and nervous system condemned, thus relieving him of his suffering. The victim loses consciousness in 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 straps for rigid fixation of the sentenced. Hands are attached to the armrests, legs - in special clamps on the legs of the chair. The chair also comes with a 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 does not catch fire during the execution.

After the sentenced person is seated on a chair and fixed, a helmet is put on his head. Before this, the hair at the crown is shaved. The eyes are either sealed with a plaster, or simply put on a black hood over the head. A sponge impregnated with saline solution is inserted into the helmet: this is done in order to ensure a minimum electrical resistance helmeted contact with the head and thus hasten death and alleviate the physical suffering of the executed.

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

Critics of the "electric chair" from the very beginning pointed out that all the arguments about his humanity are purely theoretical, and in practice everything can turn out quite differently.

First "client"

There were two candidates for going down in history as the first victim of the electric chair - Joseph Chapleau who killed a neighbor, and William Kemmler who killed his mistress with an axe.

As a result, Chapleau's lawyers achieved a pardon, and Kemmler got the "honor" to try 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 were not built in America new life, but tritely drank themselves and died, leaving their son an orphan.

A difficult childhood also affected later life, which Kemmler did not spoil. 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, referring to the US Constitution, which prohibits "cruel and unusual punishment", tried to have the court's decision overturned, but their appeal was rejected.

August 6, 1890, at 6 o'clock in the morning, in the Auburn prison, the first electric shock ran through the body of William Kemmler.

Fried Facts

Everything went wrong, as described by theorists. Kemmler's body convulsed so violently 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 sighs and moan. For a new attempt to kill, it took 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 the execution, of which there were more than twenty people, turned out to be extremely unanimous - the killing of Kemmler looked extremely disgusting. One reporter wrote that the condemned man was literally "roasted to death."

The external impression of the journalist was not so deceptive. Forensic doctors who worked with the bodies of those executed in the "electric chair" said that the brain, which is exposed to the strongest current, is practically welded.

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 form of capital punishment in the United States.

Executed at will

Abroad, however, this kind of execution has not received wide distribution. And in the United States itself in the 1970s, the "electric chair" gradually began to be replaced by lethal injection.

Over 4,300 people have been executed in the history of the electric chair.

Currently, execution in the "electric chair" is officially maintained in eight states. However, in practice, this execution is resorted to less and less, including due to technical difficulties. The newest "models" of these "death machines" are over thirty years old, and some are already over 70, so they often fail during executions.

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

Kruglova I.

The electric chair was invented 115 years ago, becoming another symbol of the United States.

The invention of the most humane punishment at that time was accompanied by a merger of many human vices. The inventors were guided in many respects by selfish goals, and not by the desire to alleviate suffering, improve the conditions of convicts and alleviate their lot. Intrigue, competition, slander, reproaches, science and business intertwined in the history of the invention of the new method.

At the end of the 19th century, Thomas Edison (below in the photo) invented the incandescent light bulb, which was a truly great invention that made it possible to use electricity to light cities.

A dentist in Buffalo, New York named Albert Southwick thought that electricity could be used in his medical practice as a pain reliever. One day, Southwick saw one of the Buffalo residents touch the exposed wires of an electric generator at the city's power plant and die, Southwick thought, almost instantly and painlessly. This incident led him to the idea that the execution using electricity could replace hanging as a more humane and quick punishment. First, Southwick spoke with the head of the Society for the Protection of Animals from Cruelty, Colonel Rockwell, suggesting the use of electricity to get rid of unwanted animals instead of drowning them (a method traditionally used). Rockwell liked this idea. In 1882, Southwick began experimenting on animals, publishing his results in scientific papers. Southwick then showed the results to his influential friend, Senator David McMillan. Southwick stated that the main advantage of electrocution was that it was painless and quick. Macmillan was committed to retaining the death penalty; he was attracted by this idea as an argument against the abolition of the death penalty, because this type of execution cannot be called cruel and inhumane, therefore, supporters of the abolition of the death penalty will lose their most compelling arguments. Macmillan relayed what he heard to New York Governor David Bennett Hill. In 1886, the "Law for the establishment of a commission to investigate and present an opinion on the most humane and acceptable method of carrying out the death sentence" is passed. The commission included Southwick, Judge Matthew Hale and politician Eluridge Gerry. The conclusion of the commission, set out on ninety-five pages of the report, was as follows: best method The execution of the death sentence is an execution using electricity. The report recommended that the state replace hanging with a new type of execution.

Governor Hill signs the law on June 5, 1888, which was to take effect on January 1, 1889, and begin a new, humane punishment in the state of New York.

It remained to decide the question concerning the apparatus for carrying out the sentence and the question of what type of electric current should be used: direct or alternating.

It is worth considering the history associated with alternating and direct currents. How do they differ, and which current is more suitable for execution?

Long before the invention of Thomas Edison, scientists from different countries have worked on this subject, but no one has succeeded in using electricity in Everyday life. Edison put into practice the theory developed before him. Edison's first power station was built in 1879; almost immediately, representatives from different US cities went to the scientist. Edison's DC system had its difficulties. Direct current flows in one direction. Supplying direct current is not possible over a long distance, it was necessary to build power plants, even to provide electricity to a medium-sized city.

The way out was found by the Croatian scientist Nikola Tesla (on the right in the photo). He developed the idea of using alternating current. Alternating current can change direction several times per second, creating a magnetic field without losing electrical voltage. AC voltage can be stepped up and down using transformers. High voltage current can be transmitted over long distances with little loss, and then, through a step-down transformer, bring electricity to consumers. Some cities used an alternating current system (but not designed by Tesla), and this system attracted investors. One such investor was George Westinghouse, famous for his invention of the airbrake. Westinghouse intended to make the use of AC profitable, but Edison's DC technology was more popular at the time. Tesla worked for Edison, but he did not pay attention to his developments, and Tesla quit. He soon patented his ideas and was able to demonstrate them in action. In 1888, Westinghouse bought forty patents from Tesla, and within a few years over a hundred cities were using the alternating current system. Edison's enterprise began to lose ground.

It became obvious that the AC system would replace the DC system. However, Edison did not believe this. In 1887, he began to discredit the Westinghouse system by requiring his employees to collect information on deaths caused by alternating current, in the hope of proving that his system was safer for the public. (Left: Westinghouse photograph)

The battle of the titans, as this story is sometimes called, began when the question arose about the type of current that was to be used in the death penalty apparatus. Edison did not want his invention to be associated with death, he wanted alternating current to be used in the death penalty machine.

On June 5, 1888, the New York Evening Post published a letter from Harold Brown that warned of the dangers of alternating current. This letter caused an alarmed reaction in the society. In the 1870s, Brown was an employee of Edison, and it can be assumed that this letter was registered. In 1888, Brown conducted a series of experiments on animals, demonstrating the destructive power of alternating current. Two second-hand alternators were used in the experiments, since Westinghouse refused to sell his generators. Experiments were carried out on several dozen dogs, cats, and two horses.

The speech of the respected scientist Thomas Edison before the commission on the decision of the method of execution made a vivid impression. The legendary inventor convinced everyone present that death with the use of electricity is painless and quick, of course, in the case of using alternating current. The commission had the option of introducing execution by lethal injection. Lethal injection is considered more humane than the electric chair. In the 20th century, almost all states that have the death penalty began to use it. Maybe many wouldn't suffer in the electric chair if there wasn't competition between campaigns or Edison's persuasive speech to the commission, though main question was that execution by lethal injection should be carried out with the help of doctors or by the doctors themselves, which is impossible for obvious reasons.

Various methods of killing were supposed, for example, on a table or in a bathtub with water. Harold Brown suggested placing the condemned on a chair by attaching electrodes to the condemned's body. Brown and became the developer-engineer of the electric chair. In the midst of the struggle between Edison and Westinghouse, the law "on electric executions”, which came into force on January 1, 1889, which was supposed to establish the only method of execution - killing by using electric current.

By January 1, 1889, the first electric chair was ready. This invention was considered a breakthrough in the humanization of the death penalty. No one had yet guessed that this invention would usher in an era of struggle for the rights of a person sentenced to death.

Sources:

Belash V. "The most humane chair in the world." Businessman Power. August 1, 2005
MacLeod M. Electrocution. Electricity. http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/not_guilty/chair/2.html
Dr. Richard Moran. The Strange Origins of the Electric Chair. Aug. 5, 1990 BostonGlobe. Appendix Part B in John N. Miskell's monograph on Auburn Prison's electrocutions http://www.correctionhistory.org/auburn&osborne/miskell/html/auburnchair_moran.html
American electric chairs http://users.bestweb.net/~rg/Electric%20Chairs/Americas%20Electric%20Chairs.htm
Mystery electric chair http://users.bestweb.net/~rg/mystery_electric_chair.htm

Relatively recently, in the United States, criminals sentenced to death were sent to the electric chair. But in last years such a "high-tech" method of execution was practically abandoned. What is the reason?

Who invented the electric chair

Execution in the electric chair began at the end of the 19th century. A "progressive" society has decided that executions such as burning at the stake, hanging, and beheading are inhumane. The criminal should not suffer additionally in the process of execution: after all, he is already being deprived of the most precious thing - his life.

According to the official version, an incident in 1881 served as the impetus for this invention. Dentist Albert Southwick of Buffalo, New York, once witnessed a old man died by accidentally touching the contacts of an electric generator. It occurred to Southwick that such a death could be quick and painless. He first suggested using electricity to get rid of unwanted animals such as kittens or puppies. This method of killing seemed to him more humane than, say, practiced drowning. The idea was also liked by the head of the Society for the Protection of Animals from Cruelty, Colonel Rockwell.

Southwick began experimenting with killing animals with electricity.

He published the results of his experiments in scientific publications, and then showed these articles to his friend, Senator David Macmillan. He turned to D.B. Hill, Governor of New York. In 1886, a special commission was created, whose task was to study the question "of the most humane and commendable method of carrying out death sentences." Southwick also joined the commission.

The inventor of electricity himself, the famous Thomas Edison, undertook to conduct official tests. In West Orange, New Jersey, they staged a demonstrative experiment on cats and dogs. They were placed on a metal plate under a voltage of 1000 volts, as a result of which the animals died. In 1888, inventor Harold Brown and Columbia University employee Fred Peterson tested the equipment at Edison Laboratories, electrocuting more than two dozen dogs over the course of several months. On January 1, 1889, the earlier "Electric Execution Law" was enacted in the state of New York.

First operating model The electric chair was developed in 1890 by an ordinary electrician named Edwin Davis, an employee of the prison in the city of Auburn.

Operating principle

The essence of the execution is this. The convict is shaved head and calf on one leg. Then the torso and arms are firmly tied with straps to a chair made of dielectric material with a high back and armrests. Legs are fixed with special clamps. At first, the criminals were blindfolded, then they began to put a hood on their heads, and more recently, a special mask. One electrode is attached to the head, on which the helmet is put on, the other to the leg. The executioner turns on the switch button, which passes through the body an alternating current with a power of up to 5 amperes and a voltage of 1700 to 2400 volts. An execution usually takes about two minutes. Two discharges are given, each is switched on for one minute, the interval between them is 10 seconds. The first discharge destroys the brain and central nervous system, the second leads to complete cardiac arrest. Death must be recorded by a doctor.

Cruel and unusual punishment

Not everyone approved of the innovation. So, Edison's main competitor, George Westinghouse, who supplied consumers electrical equipment, refused to supply prisons with electric current generators, considering this method of execution inhumane.

For the first time in the electric chair was executed on August 6, 1890 in the Auburn prison of the US state of New York, William Kemmler, convicted of the murder of his mistress Tilly Zeigler. Westinghouse tried to save the man, even hiring lawyers for him to appeal the sentence on the grounds that the electric chair was cruel and unusual punishment, therefore should be prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution. But it did not help. The sentence was carried out. Tellingly, the executioner did not die immediately, he had to turn on the switch again. Westinghouse commented, "They would have done better with an axe."

Up to now, more than four thousand people have been executed in this way in the United States. One of them was Leon Czolgosz, the assassin of US President McKinley. A similar type of execution was used in the Philippines.

The communist spouses Julius and Ethel Rosenberg ended their lives in the electric chair, accused of working for Soviet intelligence and transferring American nuclear secrets to it. In particular, they allegedly handed over to the Soviets a drawing atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki. Prominent public figures stood up to protect the Rosenberg family - among them the famous physicist Albert Einstein, the writer Thomas Mann and even Pope Pius XII. But all petitions for clemency were rejected, and in 1953 US President Dwight Eisenhower approved the death sentence. To this day, there are people who express doubt about the guilt of the Rosenbergs: the evidence against them was allegedly fabricated by the CIA - perhaps to gain an advantage over the USSR in the Cold War.

"Let me breathe!"

It was assumed that when an electric current was passed through the body, a person would die immediately. But this did not always happen. Often, eyewitnesses had to observe how people put in an electric chair convulsed, bit their tongues, foam came out of their mouths, blood came out of their sockets, their eyes popped out of their sockets, involuntary emptying of the intestines and bladder occurred ... Some screamed during the execution. Almost always, after applying the discharge, a light smoke began to go from the skin and hair of the convict. There have also been cases when a person sitting in an electric chair caught fire and exploded in the head. Quite often, the burnt skin "glued" to the belts and the seat. The bodies of the executed turned out, as a rule, so hot that it was impossible to touch them, and then the smell of burnt meat lingered in the room for a long time.

One of the protocols describes an episode when a convict was exposed to a discharge of 2450 volts for 15 seconds, but a quarter of an hour after the procedure, he was still alive. As a result, the execution had to be repeated three times until the offender died.

In 1985, in Indiana, a certain William Vandiver was electrocuted five times. It took 17 minutes to kill him.

According to experts, when exposed to such a high voltage, the human body is literally fried alive. Here is the memoir of one of the survivors: “There was a taste of cold peanut butter in my mouth. I felt my head and left leg burning, so I tried my best to break free of the bonds.” 17-year-old Willie Francis, who sat in the electric chair in 1947, shouted: “Turn it off! Let me breathe!"

Repeatedly, the execution turned out to be painful as a result of various failures and malfunctions. So, on May 4, 1990, when the criminal Jesse D. Tafero was executed, a gasket under the helmet caught fire, the convict received third and fourth degree burns. In 1991, during the execution, one of the criminals kicked his legs against a chair so much that he broke them.

Electric chair or injection?

It soon became clear that the "humane" execution often turns into torture, and its use was limited. True, some people believe that the whole point is not at all in humanity, but in the high cost of the procedure.

Currently, electric chair execution is used in six US states - Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. Moreover, the convict is offered a choice of electric chair or lethal injection. In some states, shooting, hanging, and gas chambers are also practiced as an alternative.

The last execution in the electric chair took place on January 16, 2013 in Virginia. This measure was applied to Robert Gleason, who, by the way, deliberately killed two cellmates so that his life sentence would be commuted to a death sentence.