This day in history: On this day in 1890, at Auburn Prison in New York, murderer William Kemmler becomes the first person to be executed by electric chair.
After a series of botched hangings in the United States, there was mounting criticism of that form of capital punishment and the death penalty in general. A new method of execution by using an electric chair was proposed as it was thought to be more "humane".
This first attempt at such an execution certainly wasn't.
The first 17-second passage of 1,000 volts AC through Kemmler caused unconsciousness, but failed to stop his heart and breathing. The attending physicians, Edward Charles Spitzka and Carlos Frederick MacDonald, came forward to examine Kemmler. After confirming Kemmler was still alive, Spitzka reportedly called out, "Have the current turned on again, quick, no delay." The generator needed time to re-charge, however. In the second attempt, Kemmler received a 2,000 volt AC shock. Blood vessels under the skin ruptured and bled, and the areas around the electrodes singed; some witnesses reported that his body caught fire. The entire execution took about EIGHT MINUTES. George Westinghouse later commented that, "They would have done better using an axe", and the New York Times ran the headline: "Far worse than hanging".
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