1 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production of I Heart Radios 2 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:14,400 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:17,479 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 4 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 1: our Heart Radio and I love all things tech. Once again, 5 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:26,160 Speaker 1: I have to to couch my loving of all things 6 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:30,520 Speaker 1: tech because today's topic is a dark one that I 7 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:34,400 Speaker 1: do not love. It's the electric chair, the method of 8 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:38,680 Speaker 1: execution that has a history dating back more than a century. 9 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:43,480 Speaker 1: This is a particularly grim and grizzly topic and there 10 00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 1: will be some discussion of pretty gruesome stuff in this episode, 11 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:51,560 Speaker 1: So if you are sensitive to such things, I gently 12 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:55,680 Speaker 1: suggest you stop listening now. I think this is an 13 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: important topic, but I also love you guys, and I 14 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:02,520 Speaker 1: never want you to regret listening to one of my episodes. 15 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 1: And I completely understand it if this really turns you 16 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:08,600 Speaker 1: off and you think I can't listen to it. But 17 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:10,880 Speaker 1: if you're fascinated by it and you want to learn 18 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:15,200 Speaker 1: more about the history of the electric chair and how 19 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:17,479 Speaker 1: it came to be, which has more to do with 20 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: politics and social morays than it does with technology, keep listening. 21 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 1: And before I dive into the history and talk about 22 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:29,120 Speaker 1: the development of the electric chair and what goes on 23 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 1: with it. I wanted to address my own bias on 24 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:37,440 Speaker 1: this matter because I'm very much against the death penalty. 25 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 1: I do not believe executions are effective as a deterrent 26 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:46,199 Speaker 1: in a best case scenario. In my view, each execution 27 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:49,400 Speaker 1: removes just one person from the possibility of ever doing 28 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:53,480 Speaker 1: direct harm to someone else. That's the best case scenario, 29 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:58,680 Speaker 1: and there are a lot of bad scenarios. Executions in 30 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 1: an electric chair or otherwise. They're expensive procedures, largely because 31 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 1: of the legal processes that typically exist to make sure 32 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:13,920 Speaker 1: the execution is in fact approved and is the appropriate measure. 33 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:18,040 Speaker 1: And most importantly for me, there remains the possibility that 34 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:21,359 Speaker 1: the state could put someone to death who is innocent 35 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 1: of any crimes it has happened before. Our desire for 36 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:30,280 Speaker 1: justice sometimes feeds bad decisions in which we need to 37 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:33,680 Speaker 1: have someone to pend the blame on, even if that 38 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:37,360 Speaker 1: someone isn't absolutely certain to be the one at fault. 39 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:40,959 Speaker 1: And that means even if you view capital punishment as 40 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:44,360 Speaker 1: being a just punishment, you could still end up with 41 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:48,280 Speaker 1: a case of state sponsored murder of an innocent person. 42 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:53,240 Speaker 1: And because of those reasons, I'm anti death penalty. However, 43 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:57,240 Speaker 1: I will do my best to cover this topic without 44 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 1: too much personal commentary for them that bias. I just 45 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: wanted to put it on the table right up front 46 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:08,119 Speaker 1: and be transparent about it. All right, let's get started. 47 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: Although the word electrocution came into use specifically for the 48 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:16,840 Speaker 1: description of being put to death via the electric chair, 49 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:21,080 Speaker 1: since that time, we've used it to describe any death 50 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:24,919 Speaker 1: due to being exposed to an electric shock, and there 51 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: were plenty of cases of injury and death from electricity 52 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:32,040 Speaker 1: before anyone thought of the electric chair. For one thing, 53 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: lightning has been around longer than people have, so it 54 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:37,840 Speaker 1: stands to reason that there have been deaths in the 55 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:41,800 Speaker 1: past due to lightning strikes, either directly or indirectly, but 56 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 1: we're not going to focus on those. That really isn't 57 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:48,320 Speaker 1: the realm of tech stuff. Now. While there was a 58 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:53,320 Speaker 1: lot of experimentation with electricity in the nineteenth century, it 59 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:56,360 Speaker 1: wasn't until the late eighteen seventies that we get what 60 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:01,240 Speaker 1: might be the earliest electrocution due to an accidental exposure 61 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 1: to electricity. Now, this is likely in part because much 62 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 1: of the early work with electricity for many decades was 63 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:14,480 Speaker 1: with electrostatic generators. Now, these can discharge very high voltage sparks, 64 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: but they tend to be of a low amperage, and 65 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 1: without it being a high voltage and uh sufficient average, 66 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 1: you're not going to cause death or serious injury to somebody. Now, 67 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:31,480 Speaker 1: if you listen to my previous episode about the basics 68 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:35,120 Speaker 1: of electricity, you will remember that while both voltage and 69 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:38,560 Speaker 1: amperage are important, most folks will say it's the amps 70 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: that will get you. But I have a bit more 71 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:44,320 Speaker 1: to say about this. In a second, voltage is similar 72 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:47,599 Speaker 1: to water pressure, right, It's how hard the electricity is 73 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:51,440 Speaker 1: being pushed through a circuit, whereas amperage or current is 74 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:54,560 Speaker 1: similar to the amount of water flowing past a specific 75 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:57,919 Speaker 1: point within a given amount of time. It's the amount 76 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 1: of charge going through. It doesn't take much current to 77 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:06,760 Speaker 1: pose a danger to humans. You can feel a shock 78 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:10,599 Speaker 1: of current of just ten milli amps, So a milla 79 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:13,800 Speaker 1: amp is one of an amp. So if you were 80 00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 1: to grab a wire with a current between ten and 81 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:20,839 Speaker 1: twenty mill amps running through it, of alternating current in particular, 82 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:23,960 Speaker 1: you'd find yourself unable to let go as your muscles 83 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 1: seized up around that wire. The current would need to 84 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:31,880 Speaker 1: be broken for you to regain control. If you encountered 85 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 1: between one hundred and two hundred milli amps, you're in 86 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:39,800 Speaker 1: the fatal zone. At that amperage, the electric current causes 87 00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:44,000 Speaker 1: the heart to go into ventricular fibrillation, meaning the heart 88 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:49,599 Speaker 1: begins to spasm irregularly. You get a rapid, irregular heartbeat. 89 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:52,760 Speaker 1: Above two hundred million amps, you actually have a better 90 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:57,480 Speaker 1: chance of survival, though you could suffer some pretty nasty injuries, 91 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:02,400 Speaker 1: including burns and possibly image to internal organs. Why would 92 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 1: you survive at a higher current then? Why is one 93 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:10,480 Speaker 1: to two hundred the deadly zone. Well above two hundred milliamps, 94 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:14,039 Speaker 1: your heart tends to seize up, just as your hand 95 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 1: would have seized up around a wire with twenty amps 96 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:20,599 Speaker 1: running through it. Miller apps, I should say apps would 97 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:23,040 Speaker 1: be way too much, But Miller amps your hand would 98 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 1: just seize up around it. Your heart would do the 99 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:29,720 Speaker 1: same and around above two hundred milli amps. Uh. This 100 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:33,080 Speaker 1: means that you would not go into ventricular fibrillation. Your 101 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:35,920 Speaker 1: heart would just stop. So if someone were to cut 102 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:37,960 Speaker 1: off the current that was running through you and then 103 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:42,839 Speaker 1: a minister resuscitation, you could recover, assuming you hadn't experienced 104 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:47,080 Speaker 1: significant damage to other organs like your small intestine or 105 00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:50,840 Speaker 1: more uncommon, but it is possible something like your liver. 106 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:55,640 Speaker 1: So does that mean voltage is not important at all? Well, no, 107 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:59,560 Speaker 1: that's not true either. You also remember from that previous 108 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:03,960 Speaker 1: episode that I talked about the concepts conductivity and resistance. 109 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 1: This describes the ease or the difficulty if you if 110 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:12,000 Speaker 1: you prefer at which current can pass through a given substance. 111 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:18,840 Speaker 1: So something that has got a high conductivity facilitates the 112 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 1: movement of electricity through that substance, something with high resistance doesn't. So, 113 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:27,880 Speaker 1: assuming your skin is dry, your body's electrical resistance is 114 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:31,440 Speaker 1: relatively high, which means there needs to be a sufficient 115 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:33,840 Speaker 1: amount of voltage. You need to have a sufficient amount 116 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:37,080 Speaker 1: of pressure to get the current to run through the 117 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:41,760 Speaker 1: human body. Higher voltages have that pressure. So it's really 118 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:45,320 Speaker 1: the combination of the proper voltage and current that leads 119 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:50,080 Speaker 1: to a case of electrocution. Okay, so back to historical accounts. 120 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:54,320 Speaker 1: One of the earliest types of electrical lights used ever 121 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:58,760 Speaker 1: in the history of humans was the arc lamp. Now, 122 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:03,000 Speaker 1: these preceded the incandescent bulbs that were made famous by, 123 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:08,280 Speaker 1: but not invented by Thomas Edison's labs. In fact, they 124 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 1: preceded it by decades. They were first developed in the 125 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:15,400 Speaker 1: early eighteen hundreds. However, it wasn't until the eighteen seventies 126 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:19,520 Speaker 1: and the evolution of direct current dynamos that these arc 127 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 1: lamps became a practical technology for widespread use. The arc 128 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:28,080 Speaker 1: lamp worked on a different principle from incandescent lamps. Actually, 129 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:32,160 Speaker 1: I should just say works, because there are still arc 130 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:36,880 Speaker 1: lamps in use today for very specific applications. So incandescent 131 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:40,400 Speaker 1: bulbs work by running a current through a very thin 132 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:43,160 Speaker 1: wire and the thin wire heats up and it gives 133 00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:47,920 Speaker 1: off light. It literally it incandescence. The arc lamp generates 134 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:51,320 Speaker 1: light in a different way. It creates a sustained spark 135 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:55,640 Speaker 1: or arc between two carbon rods that are spaced apart 136 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:59,840 Speaker 1: at a particular distance. Other materials besides carbon can be used, 137 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:03,640 Speaker 1: but the early arc lamps were carbon arc lamps. The 138 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:07,040 Speaker 1: gap between the rods is important. If the gap is 139 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:11,719 Speaker 1: too wide, then the spark or the arc won't be 140 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:14,760 Speaker 1: able to sustain itself. It would fire off and starts 141 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:17,679 Speaker 1: and stops, so you would get a flickering light and 142 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:21,199 Speaker 1: sort of a sputtering noise that would come along with it. 143 00:09:21,679 --> 00:09:24,560 Speaker 1: If the rods are too close to each other, then 144 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 1: you would get a sustained spark, but you would get 145 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:30,280 Speaker 1: a limited amount of light. You want to maximize the 146 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:34,840 Speaker 1: light you get while minimizing the chance of the lamps sputtering. 147 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:38,559 Speaker 1: So what's actually going on with these arc lamps. Well, 148 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:40,400 Speaker 1: it gets a bit technical, and I don't want to 149 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:43,400 Speaker 1: take too much time away from the actual focus of 150 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:47,120 Speaker 1: this episode, but I'll give a very quick overview. The 151 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:51,959 Speaker 1: rods act as electrodes and a voltage is applied between them. Now, 152 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:55,360 Speaker 1: remember a voltage is a difference in electric potential between 153 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:58,960 Speaker 1: two points. These two rods are then brought into contact 154 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:03,000 Speaker 1: with one another. Typically they're inside a lamp bulb structure 155 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 1: that actually has air in it, so it's not a 156 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:08,800 Speaker 1: vacuum bulb like an incandescent bulb would be, and this 157 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:13,200 Speaker 1: causes current to flow between the two rods. Some of 158 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:18,400 Speaker 1: the carbon atoms in the rods ionize, they become charged particles, 159 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:22,080 Speaker 1: and some of these ionized carbon atoms vaporize off of 160 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:25,480 Speaker 1: the tips of the rods. So you get this ionized 161 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:29,800 Speaker 1: carbon vapor between the two rods and the vapor can 162 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:33,679 Speaker 1: conduct electricity very much like a wire would, So an 163 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:37,400 Speaker 1: electric current can flow from one electrode to another through 164 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:40,640 Speaker 1: the air due to this carbon vapor, and you get 165 00:10:40,679 --> 00:10:44,040 Speaker 1: a very bright light as a result. In fact, it 166 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:47,560 Speaker 1: was so bright that the lamps became popular for very 167 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:51,600 Speaker 1: specific applications such as lighting up streets at night, rather 168 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:55,400 Speaker 1: than using gas lamps. They were also used in theatrical 169 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:58,800 Speaker 1: lighting for stages, and this leads us to the first 170 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:02,840 Speaker 1: recorded case of a electrocution that I could discover. The 171 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:06,959 Speaker 1: account is in a report titled Injury Mechanisms and Therapeutic 172 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:10,240 Speaker 1: Advances in the Study of Electrical Shock that was written 173 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:13,080 Speaker 1: by two members of the faculty at the University of Chicago. 174 00:11:13,679 --> 00:11:17,160 Speaker 1: In their report, they mentioned that the earliest recorded case 175 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:22,360 Speaker 1: of artificial electrocution as opposed to electrocution by lightning, happened 176 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:26,480 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy nine. A carpenter working at a theater 177 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:30,200 Speaker 1: touched a wire connected to a two hundred fifty voult generator, 178 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:35,360 Speaker 1: producing alternating current. Now, considering that work in electricity had 179 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:39,240 Speaker 1: been going on for decades before that tragedy, I suspect 180 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:42,520 Speaker 1: there may have been other cases, but this is the 181 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:46,959 Speaker 1: earliest documented one that I could find. Arc lighting began 182 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:50,960 Speaker 1: to replace gas lamps in many cities. It provided brighter light, 183 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:54,199 Speaker 1: and it was also less expensive to operate than gas lamps, 184 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:58,360 Speaker 1: which also depended upon stuff like oil from whales, and 185 00:11:58,559 --> 00:12:01,679 Speaker 1: that whales were being hunted to near extinction. So the 186 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:06,400 Speaker 1: switch to electricity, pun intended, would mean whale hunting began 187 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:09,960 Speaker 1: to decline and while populations began to recover. But it 188 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:13,760 Speaker 1: also paved the way for more accidents with humans, of 189 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:16,640 Speaker 1: which there were more than a few. The people who 190 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:22,120 Speaker 1: died from electrocution appeared to do so nearly instantaneously, and 191 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:25,520 Speaker 1: frequently they had no external signs of damage. And this 192 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:29,000 Speaker 1: brings us up to eighteen eighty one in Buffalo, New 193 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 1: York and a man named Alfred P. Southwick d D 194 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:37,280 Speaker 1: s yep. The story of the electric chair hinges upon 195 00:12:37,679 --> 00:12:40,559 Speaker 1: a dentist. And I could make a lot of jokes 196 00:12:40,679 --> 00:12:44,760 Speaker 1: about dentists here, including referencing the film and stage play 197 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:48,080 Speaker 1: of Little Shop of Horrors, but those are easy jokes, 198 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:52,320 Speaker 1: so I'll just acknowledge it and move on. Southwick witnessed 199 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:55,760 Speaker 1: an accident in eighty one that led him to consider 200 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:59,080 Speaker 1: the possibility of electrocution as a means to carry out 201 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:02,440 Speaker 1: capital punish ment. He witnessed a man who was deep 202 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:06,040 Speaker 1: in his cups that means he was drunk, and that 203 00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:10,400 Speaker 1: man touched a live generator terminal. He suffered a fatal 204 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:14,280 Speaker 1: shock as a result. Now, Southwick's perception was that the 205 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:19,320 Speaker 1: death was swift and apparently painless. Now, at the time, 206 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:22,960 Speaker 1: the typical method of carrying out capital punishment in the 207 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:27,400 Speaker 1: United States was hanging. The nineteenth century had seen some 208 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:30,760 Speaker 1: pretty dramatic changes in the US when it came to 209 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:34,560 Speaker 1: capital punishment until the middle of the nineteenth century, so 210 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:39,520 Speaker 1: the eighteen forties and fifties, public hangings were common, and 211 00:13:39,559 --> 00:13:42,360 Speaker 1: there was a long list of crimes for which capital 212 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:45,360 Speaker 1: punishment could be brought to bear, and in many cases 213 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:49,840 Speaker 1: it was a mandatory sentence. Now, these were holdovers from 214 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:53,000 Speaker 1: the sixteen hundreds and seventeen hundreds, but there was a 215 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:56,680 Speaker 1: growing concern about the ethics of the death penalty and 216 00:13:56,720 --> 00:13:59,160 Speaker 1: the effects it could have on a crowd. There had 217 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:02,120 Speaker 1: actually been pets at a few of these public hangings, 218 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:05,160 Speaker 1: and that meant that many states had either moved to 219 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:08,720 Speaker 1: private hangings out of the public view, or they were 220 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:14,160 Speaker 1: abolishing the death penalty outright. Another perspective was that such 221 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 1: widespread application of the death penalty was acting as a 222 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:21,160 Speaker 1: deterrent for juries to deliver a guilty verdict on a suspect. 223 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:25,080 Speaker 1: Juries were aware that if they gave a guilty verdict, 224 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:29,320 Speaker 1: the sentence would lead to an execution. Therefore, many people 225 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:32,200 Speaker 1: on a jury were reluctant to deliver a guilty verdict. 226 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:34,640 Speaker 1: They didn't want to be responsible for the death of 227 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:38,440 Speaker 1: another person. So there were some people who wanted to 228 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:41,640 Speaker 1: abolish the death penalty, not because they thought it was 229 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:45,960 Speaker 1: inhumane or it was wrong, but because they felt that 230 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:49,280 Speaker 1: guilty people were being set free because Juries were too 231 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:52,480 Speaker 1: squeamish to condemn someone to death. So they said, well, 232 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:54,160 Speaker 1: we should get rid of the death penalty so we 233 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:57,280 Speaker 1: can lock these people up, because right now the options 234 00:14:57,320 --> 00:15:01,320 Speaker 1: are a mandatory death sentence or are letting them go free. 235 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:06,760 Speaker 1: And then there was the curious case of John Babbacomb Lee, 236 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:09,360 Speaker 1: a man accused of having murdered a woman by the 237 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:14,280 Speaker 1: name of Emma Keys. Now, despite Lee's proclamations of innocence 238 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:17,880 Speaker 1: and a lack of really compelling evidence, there was a 239 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:21,920 Speaker 1: lot of circumstantial evidence, but nothing that directly tied lead 240 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:25,600 Speaker 1: to the murder. Lee was actually convicted of the crime 241 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:28,840 Speaker 1: and he was sentenced to hang. But things did not 242 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:32,240 Speaker 1: work out quite as planned. When it came time to 243 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:36,000 Speaker 1: drop the trap door out from underneath Lee's feet, the 244 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:41,240 Speaker 1: door remained in place and Lee did not budge. The executioner, 245 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:45,160 Speaker 1: James Berry, reset the scaffold and attempted to hang Lee 246 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:51,160 Speaker 1: three times. All three times the mechanism failed. The experience 247 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:54,800 Speaker 1: must have been a pretty dramatic one. Lee's sentence was 248 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:59,720 Speaker 1: then commuted to life imprisonment. He would eventually be released later. 249 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:03,040 Speaker 1: It appeared as though the scaffold had a misaligned bar 250 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:06,040 Speaker 1: that was blocking the trap door, and then this probably 251 00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:09,520 Speaker 1: happened when it had been relocated from a different spot 252 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:14,160 Speaker 1: not long before the scheduled execution. I can only imagine 253 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:17,520 Speaker 1: what Lee must have gone through to believe, not once, 254 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:21,400 Speaker 1: but three times his life was about to end, only 255 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:25,400 Speaker 1: for nothing to happen. The psychological toll was another cruelty 256 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:29,320 Speaker 1: cited by critics. Now, it doesn't take much imagination to 257 00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:34,240 Speaker 1: summon up how barbaric a hanging can be, particularly public hangings. 258 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:38,120 Speaker 1: In some cases, the hanged would live for up to 259 00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:41,920 Speaker 1: half an hour before dying of asphyxiation. In other cases, 260 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:44,840 Speaker 1: if the drop were long enough, the force of the 261 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:48,760 Speaker 1: sudden stop coupled with the noose tightening could reportedly result 262 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:53,920 Speaker 1: in a decapitation. Southwick apparently believed in the death penalty, 263 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:56,640 Speaker 1: but also felt a more humane approach to ending a 264 00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:59,000 Speaker 1: life was called for, and he was not alone in 265 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:04,040 Speaker 1: this belief. There were countless doctors, politicians, intellectuals, and others 266 00:17:04,080 --> 00:17:08,920 Speaker 1: who shared his beliefs. He thought electrocution could be that approach. 267 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:12,240 Speaker 1: He consulted with a friend of his, doctor George E. Fell, 268 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:15,680 Speaker 1: and they began to look into the possibility of advocating 269 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:21,240 Speaker 1: for electrocution over hanging Southwick published his argument in eighteen 270 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:24,679 Speaker 1: eighty three and began to write articles about electrocution, and 271 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:27,359 Speaker 1: they came to the attention of the Governor of New York, 272 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:31,119 Speaker 1: David Bennett Hill, who had taken over for an outgoing 273 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 1: Grover Cleveland, who had recently been elected President of the 274 00:17:34,359 --> 00:17:39,399 Speaker 1: United States. One of Hill's acquaintances was Daniel H. Macmillan, 275 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:43,280 Speaker 1: a friend to Southwick and a New York senator. Macmillan 276 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:47,679 Speaker 1: championed the death penalty, but the growing resistance from abolitionists 277 00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:51,680 Speaker 1: who wanted to outlaw hanging posed a challenge. Macmillan saw 278 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:55,400 Speaker 1: Southwick's proposal as a possible way to sidestep that challenge. 279 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:59,320 Speaker 1: If the abolitionists were arguing that hanging was in humane, 280 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:03,160 Speaker 1: if it was cruel and violent, well how about a clean, 281 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:07,959 Speaker 1: painless method of putting someone to death. Macmillan saw electrocution 282 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:10,760 Speaker 1: as a possible way to preserve the death penalty and 283 00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:15,840 Speaker 1: overstep these objections. When we come back, I'll continue the 284 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:19,840 Speaker 1: journey to the creation of Old Sparky, but first let's 285 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:32,320 Speaker 1: take a quick break. So Southwick's work inspired a New 286 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:35,560 Speaker 1: York senator named McMillan to advocate for electrocution as an 287 00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:38,919 Speaker 1: alternative to hanging, thus preserving the death penalty in the 288 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:41,800 Speaker 1: state of New York. David Bennett Hill, the Governor of 289 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:45,720 Speaker 1: New York, listen to McMillan's arguments, using Southwick's published works 290 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:49,000 Speaker 1: as citations, and he became convinced that it was a 291 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:52,040 Speaker 1: suitable alternative to hanging. In fact, he even made it 292 00:18:52,119 --> 00:18:56,359 Speaker 1: part of his eight State of the State speech, stating 293 00:18:57,040 --> 00:19:00,440 Speaker 1: the present mode of executing criminals by hanging hiss down 294 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:02,880 Speaker 1: to us from the dark ages and it may well 295 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:06,359 Speaker 1: be questioned whether the science of the present day cannot 296 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:08,960 Speaker 1: provide a means for taking the life of such as 297 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:12,800 Speaker 1: are condemned to die in a less barbarous manner. I 298 00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:17,040 Speaker 1: commend this suggestion to the consideration of the legislature. He 299 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:20,879 Speaker 1: did not specifically bring up electrocution, but the implication was 300 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:24,320 Speaker 1: pretty clear. Now this plays into a common belief in 301 00:19:24,359 --> 00:19:28,040 Speaker 1: the nineteenth century. The Industrial Revolution and the rise of 302 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:32,720 Speaker 1: electricity brought with it an expectation that technological advancements were 303 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:37,440 Speaker 1: going to improve absolutely everything about our lives. Technology would 304 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:40,000 Speaker 1: provide a superior way to do all the tasks that 305 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:43,200 Speaker 1: previously had to be done through manual labor. So if 306 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:49,480 Speaker 1: technology could revolutionize manufacturing, why not executions. Macmillan and Hill 307 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:53,439 Speaker 1: were unable to push legislation through in eive to support 308 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:57,120 Speaker 1: electrocution as a new means to carry out death sentences. Instead, 309 00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:01,200 Speaker 1: in eighteen eighty six, Macmillan introduce a resolution to form 310 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:04,959 Speaker 1: a committee that would explore alternatives to hanging, with the 311 00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:08,120 Speaker 1: goal of finding the most humane method to carry out 312 00:20:08,119 --> 00:20:12,040 Speaker 1: a death sentence. Macmillan named Southwick one of the members 313 00:20:12,119 --> 00:20:15,680 Speaker 1: of this committee, Knowing that Southwick was a fervent supporter 314 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:20,719 Speaker 1: of electrocution. The other two members, Matthew Hale and Elbridge T. Jerry, 315 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:24,679 Speaker 1: were from wealthy families, so is Southwick for that matter, 316 00:20:25,119 --> 00:20:28,680 Speaker 1: and they had no firm stance on the matter. Southwick 317 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:31,640 Speaker 1: was relied upon as the voice of science and medicine, 318 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:35,400 Speaker 1: though he was a dentist and only an amateur electrician. 319 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:38,760 Speaker 1: The fact the commission didn't include a medical doctor or 320 00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:42,800 Speaker 1: an experienced electrician would mean that defending their stance would 321 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:45,480 Speaker 1: become difficult. It also indirectly led to some of the 322 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:49,560 Speaker 1: more horrific displays of electricity. Now this brings our story 323 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:52,280 Speaker 1: in line with something else that was unfolding around the 324 00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:56,200 Speaker 1: same time, the so called War of the Currents. There 325 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:59,960 Speaker 1: were two camps headed by two generals. On one side, 326 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:04,480 Speaker 1: you had Thomas Edison, heralded as a genius inventor and businessman, 327 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:08,320 Speaker 1: who advocated for direct current, which is the type of 328 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:11,840 Speaker 1: current supplied by stuff like batteries. On the other side, 329 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:15,480 Speaker 1: you had George Westinghouse, who was banking on alternating current, 330 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:18,639 Speaker 1: saying it provided a much better means to distribute electricity 331 00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:23,240 Speaker 1: across longer distances. Now, I didn't include Nicola Tesla in 332 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:26,640 Speaker 1: this description because he was more like a lieutenant serving 333 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:30,719 Speaker 1: under Westinghouse, though he had originally worked as an employee 334 00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:35,160 Speaker 1: over at one of Edison's companies before getting seriously shafted 335 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:38,520 Speaker 1: by Thomas Edison. The development of the electric chair and 336 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:41,760 Speaker 1: the War of the Currents are linked together, and both 337 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:45,520 Speaker 1: events were dependent upon leveraging public perceptions and making use 338 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:48,600 Speaker 1: of propaganda in an effort to win people over to 339 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:53,000 Speaker 1: a certain point of view. So this commission, which later 340 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:57,840 Speaker 1: some would refer to as the Charming Electrical Death Commission, 341 00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:02,240 Speaker 1: produced an enormous report about the various means of execution 342 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:05,840 Speaker 1: that people had been using since Biblical times. It included 343 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:09,800 Speaker 1: not just methods like hanging and beheading, which was still 344 00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:13,680 Speaker 1: a practice in France, but also being stoned to death, 345 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:19,000 Speaker 1: pressed by weights, burned alive at the stake, crucifixion, drawing 346 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:24,359 Speaker 1: and quartering, and more. The grizzly encyclopedia of ways humans 347 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:27,919 Speaker 1: have ended the lives of those condemned took up about 348 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:32,720 Speaker 1: half of the report's pages. The point was clear execution 349 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:37,160 Speaker 1: in its primitive forms was nearly always brutal and inhumane. 350 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:41,080 Speaker 1: Another section of the report was largely dedicated to the 351 00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:44,360 Speaker 1: results of a survey the Commission sent out to various 352 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:52,080 Speaker 1: authorities and doctors, so lawyers, judges, police officials, et cetera. 353 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:56,919 Speaker 1: The survey just had five questions. The third question asked 354 00:22:57,200 --> 00:23:00,120 Speaker 1: if there might be a more humane alternative to hanging 355 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:03,440 Speaker 1: and what that might be. The fourth question proposed four 356 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:06,840 Speaker 1: alternatives and asked for the views of those taking the 357 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:10,160 Speaker 1: survey on each of those alternatives. The four, in order 358 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:16,479 Speaker 1: were electricity, poison, the guillotine, and the garote. The survey 359 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:20,400 Speaker 1: excluded any suggestion that capital punshment should be abolished out right, 360 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:24,400 Speaker 1: a telling omission, because that was certainly something that could 361 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:27,160 Speaker 1: have been on the table, but was left out on purpose. 362 00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:30,600 Speaker 1: Now I say that a large part of the report 363 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:32,879 Speaker 1: was dedicated to the results of this survey, but it 364 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:36,679 Speaker 1: was more like it was dedicated to cherry picked results 365 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:40,800 Speaker 1: from the survey. The full results showed that only a 366 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:45,520 Speaker 1: small number of those questioned preferred electricity to hanging for 367 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:52,600 Speaker 1: supported electricity and then said hanging is just fine. Seeing 368 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:55,640 Speaker 1: as how the Commission was being guided by an advocate 369 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:59,240 Speaker 1: for electrocution, it should come as no surprise that those 370 00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:02,800 Speaker 1: results were not laid out in full. Instead, the report 371 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:07,840 Speaker 1: included choice quotes and tidbits from the survey. Some of 372 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:12,520 Speaker 1: those responding to the survey voice concerns that electrocution might 373 00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:16,480 Speaker 1: cause harm to those carrying out the execution, a challenge 374 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:19,679 Speaker 1: that was not easily dismissed by the committee because there 375 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:22,880 Speaker 1: was just a lack of practical applications that they could 376 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:27,560 Speaker 1: point to to test that idea. So now let's switch circuits, 377 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:31,400 Speaker 1: so to speak to the War of the currents. Edison 378 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:35,520 Speaker 1: and Westinghouse were fiercely battling over the which standard, whether 379 00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:39,000 Speaker 1: it was direct or alternating current, would become the accepted 380 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:43,600 Speaker 1: methodology for distributing power throughout the United States. Electric lights 381 00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:48,080 Speaker 1: could run on either. Early appliances mostly ran on direct current, 382 00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:50,600 Speaker 1: and direct current was pretty simple when you got down 383 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:53,480 Speaker 1: to it. But the big issue with direct current is 384 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:57,520 Speaker 1: that it would require very thick copper cables and a 385 00:24:57,560 --> 00:25:00,639 Speaker 1: lot of voltage to push beyond a certain stans, and 386 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:03,600 Speaker 1: you quickly lost efficiency when you were trying to transmit 387 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:07,480 Speaker 1: power over distance. So it wasn't a huge issue if 388 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:10,119 Speaker 1: you located the power plant near the places where you 389 00:25:10,119 --> 00:25:13,879 Speaker 1: were delivering electricity, also known as the load. So if 390 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:16,320 Speaker 1: the load was close to the power plant no problem. 391 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:19,240 Speaker 1: Direct currents fine, but it got more problematic when you 392 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:23,040 Speaker 1: wanted to send electricity to more remote locations. So it 393 00:25:23,119 --> 00:25:25,800 Speaker 1: was the kind of thing that could work in dense 394 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,920 Speaker 1: populations if people didn't mind power plants right next door, 395 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:32,119 Speaker 1: but it would be harder to pull off outside of 396 00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:36,679 Speaker 1: those dense environments. Alternating current could take advantage of stuff 397 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:40,080 Speaker 1: like transformers to step up or step down the voltage 398 00:25:40,119 --> 00:25:44,520 Speaker 1: direct current can't. That meant that it could use those 399 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:48,320 Speaker 1: transformers to help distribute electricity over much greater distances from 400 00:25:48,359 --> 00:25:51,639 Speaker 1: the point of production. So Westinghouse was arguing that a 401 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:54,280 Speaker 1: C was best, though it would also mean having to 402 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:58,040 Speaker 1: include converters for devices that would depend upon direct current, 403 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,040 Speaker 1: so those converters would take the coming a C and 404 00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:03,840 Speaker 1: transform it into direct current for the appliance to use. 405 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:08,240 Speaker 1: Edison argued that alternating current was far more dangerous than 406 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:11,080 Speaker 1: direct current. He had also been contacted by a guy 407 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:14,720 Speaker 1: named Henry Berg Jr. And that was the founder of 408 00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:17,800 Speaker 1: the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals 409 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:21,399 Speaker 1: or a s p c A. Now Berg had asked 410 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:26,000 Speaker 1: Edison if perhaps electrocution could be a more humane way 411 00:26:26,040 --> 00:26:30,280 Speaker 1: to put down stray animals, essentially saying, there are too 412 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:32,960 Speaker 1: many strays, We're never going to find homes for all 413 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:35,439 Speaker 1: of them, so some of them will have to be 414 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:38,880 Speaker 1: put to death. What's the best way to do that 415 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:41,359 Speaker 1: that will cause the least amount of pain and suffering 416 00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:45,520 Speaker 1: to animals? So you might ask, well, what were the alternatives? Well, 417 00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:51,119 Speaker 1: they were mainly hanging and drowning. So yeah, we're terrible things, 418 00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:54,400 Speaker 1: we humans, We've done awful things to poor little animals. 419 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:59,920 Speaker 1: Edison carried out several experiments electrocuting stray animals, and those 420 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,000 Speaker 1: experiments got the notice of the Commission in New York. 421 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:06,680 Speaker 1: Edison decided to spend this as sort of a propaganda 422 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:12,760 Speaker 1: attack on Alternating Current and Westinghouse. His demonstrations of electrocution 423 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:17,399 Speaker 1: used Alternating Current, with essentially the message being this version 424 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:21,480 Speaker 1: of electricity is inherently dangerous and will lead to fatalities, 425 00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:25,879 Speaker 1: and yeah, this is all awful. I love animals, so 426 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:30,119 Speaker 1: I really hate this topic intensely. But I also wanted 427 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:34,679 Speaker 1: to take this opportunity to address a historical misrepresentation of 428 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:37,879 Speaker 1: Edison that gets lumped in with all this discussion usually, 429 00:27:38,280 --> 00:27:41,920 Speaker 1: and that of course, is the famous electrocution of Topsy 430 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:45,640 Speaker 1: the elephant. Now, the basic story that gets passed around 431 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:50,200 Speaker 1: is that Edison ordered or oversaw the electrocution of this 432 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:54,880 Speaker 1: circus elephant, which had killed one handler after said handler 433 00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:59,359 Speaker 1: had burned the elephant with a cigar, and that Edison 434 00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:01,920 Speaker 1: did this in part as a way to demonstrate how 435 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:06,240 Speaker 1: dangerous alternating current is. But that story is both oversimplified 436 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:10,920 Speaker 1: and just playing wrong. First, Topsy wasn't put to death 437 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:14,080 Speaker 1: after killing a handler. She was actually kept around for 438 00:28:14,119 --> 00:28:17,680 Speaker 1: a while after that incident happened. It was only after 439 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:20,520 Speaker 1: a different incident, when one of her other handlers got 440 00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:23,800 Speaker 1: drunk and decided to ride the elephant through the streets 441 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:26,800 Speaker 1: of New York, that her reputation put the operations of 442 00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:30,560 Speaker 1: her owners in jeopardy, and they didn't want their business 443 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:33,840 Speaker 1: interests to be ruined, so they chose to put her 444 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:37,760 Speaker 1: to death as almost like a publicity stunt. Initially, they 445 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:39,960 Speaker 1: planned to hang her, but the s p c A 446 00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:43,719 Speaker 1: thought to have her electrocuted instead, believing that to be 447 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:46,080 Speaker 1: a more humane way to put an animal to death. 448 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:49,440 Speaker 1: This was done by people who worked for a company 449 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:53,200 Speaker 1: that bore Edison's name. It was an Edison company, but 450 00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:57,480 Speaker 1: Thomas Edison himself didn't have any involvement with that company 451 00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:00,960 Speaker 1: at that time. He had already left the company. Me Plus, 452 00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:04,720 Speaker 1: this wasn't part of the War of the Currents because 453 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:07,120 Speaker 1: the War of the Currents had already been settled for 454 00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:10,160 Speaker 1: a decade when Topsy was actually put to death in 455 00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:15,120 Speaker 1: N three. So this gets conflated a lot. It did happen, 456 00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:18,360 Speaker 1: but not the way it's typically said. This by the way, 457 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:21,040 Speaker 1: it was also several years after the first execution of 458 00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:23,520 Speaker 1: a human by electrocution, So I'm gonna be backtracking in 459 00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:28,760 Speaker 1: just a second. Anyway, Topsy's life makes for a very 460 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:32,080 Speaker 1: sad story, but it's not something we can lay at 461 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:35,680 Speaker 1: the feet of Thomas Edison himself in this case. Still, 462 00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:39,480 Speaker 1: I don't want to exonerate Thomas Edison. He did put 463 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:44,760 Speaker 1: more than a few animals down using electrocution, so he 464 00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:49,600 Speaker 1: did plenty of things that were not great, but this 465 00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:52,040 Speaker 1: was not one of them. Now, when we come back, 466 00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:55,320 Speaker 1: I'll talk more about the first electric chair and the 467 00:29:55,360 --> 00:30:00,360 Speaker 1: first terrible execution, but first let's take another quick break. 468 00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:11,840 Speaker 1: The Electrical Death Commission used Edison's experiments as sort of 469 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:14,200 Speaker 1: a source of data to advocate for the use of 470 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:18,560 Speaker 1: electrocution and death penalty cases. The apparent lack of wounds 471 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,400 Speaker 1: on the animals and the swiftness of death seemed to 472 00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:24,280 Speaker 1: fit the criteria the Commission was searching for and their 473 00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:27,880 Speaker 1: efforts to establish electrocution as an alternative to hanging and 474 00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:30,680 Speaker 1: to preserve the death penalty in general in the state 475 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:33,720 Speaker 1: of New York. The Commission presented their findings to the 476 00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:37,680 Speaker 1: New York legislature, which was under intense pressure to make 477 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:41,560 Speaker 1: changes to the death penalty. Several states had already abolished 478 00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:44,080 Speaker 1: the death penalty, but New York was not quite ready 479 00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:47,560 Speaker 1: to make that step, and so the legislature took up 480 00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:51,160 Speaker 1: debate on the subject in eight eight and ultimately came 481 00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:55,040 Speaker 1: to an agreement. They passed an electrical execution law, and 482 00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:59,160 Speaker 1: that law took effect on January one, eighteen eighty nine. 483 00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:04,200 Speaker 1: To Harold P. Brown, an electrical engineer and one of 484 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:08,160 Speaker 1: Edison's warriors in the War of the Currents, Brown had 485 00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:13,120 Speaker 1: argued passionately against the adoption of alternating current He had 486 00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:17,320 Speaker 1: stated that it was inherently deadly. He was brought on 487 00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:21,160 Speaker 1: as a consultant to create a working manifestation of an 488 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:25,120 Speaker 1: electrocution device for the State of New York to test it, 489 00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:27,840 Speaker 1: in other words, and to determine the best use of it. 490 00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:32,160 Speaker 1: Southwick had previously suggested an electrical chair based in part 491 00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:36,960 Speaker 1: on dentistry chairs. Remember Southwick was a dentist. Brown's job 492 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:40,640 Speaker 1: was to oversee more electrocution experiments with animals and determine 493 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:43,719 Speaker 1: the proper procedure current and voltage needed to put a 494 00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:48,600 Speaker 1: person to death. Brown would rely upon alternating current despite 495 00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:51,400 Speaker 1: there being no mandate from the state on what type 496 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:54,680 Speaker 1: of current should be used, and he experimented on animals, 497 00:31:54,760 --> 00:31:57,520 Speaker 1: putting several to death. He determined that it would take 498 00:31:57,560 --> 00:32:01,280 Speaker 1: between one thousand and fifteen hundred volts of alternating current 499 00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:05,240 Speaker 1: to electrocute a person, and more pointedly, he mentioned that 500 00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:08,520 Speaker 1: that represented only half of the voltage that was running 501 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:12,160 Speaker 1: through power lines at that very moment, So his implication 502 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:16,120 Speaker 1: was pretty clear, this is the electricity needed to kill someone, 503 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:19,560 Speaker 1: and you've got twice that running overhead in your typical 504 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:24,360 Speaker 1: power line. Brown was a master at passive aggressive criticism, 505 00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:29,640 Speaker 1: not to mention outright aggressive criticism. Brown maintained that alternating 506 00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:33,600 Speaker 1: current was inherently more dangerous than direct current. Allegedly he 507 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:37,520 Speaker 1: challenged Westinghouse himself to a current standoff in which Brown 508 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:40,360 Speaker 1: would hold a live wire that was running direct current 509 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:43,320 Speaker 1: into him, and Westinghouse would have to do the same 510 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:46,120 Speaker 1: with a wire running alternating current, and then they would 511 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:49,920 Speaker 1: just step up the voltage in equal steps until one 512 00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:54,280 Speaker 1: of them let go. Westinghouse reportedly declined to acquiesce to 513 00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:57,720 Speaker 1: his request, and to be fair to Brown, you can 514 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:00,400 Speaker 1: think of alternating current as being more day DRIs than 515 00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:03,560 Speaker 1: direct current, in the sense that it takes less voltage 516 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:06,760 Speaker 1: for a C to cause harmed humans than it would 517 00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:10,800 Speaker 1: with d C. Also, alternating current has an oscillation to it, 518 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:15,200 Speaker 1: as the current alternates right while changes direction that can 519 00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:20,200 Speaker 1: more easily lead to ventricular fibrillation that uncontrolled spasming of 520 00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:23,840 Speaker 1: the heart than if you had an encounter with direct current. 521 00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:28,880 Speaker 1: But it's not really ideal to experience either, and a 522 00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:32,040 Speaker 1: direct current of sufficient voltage can be just as deadly 523 00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:37,040 Speaker 1: as alternating current. It just takes more of it, or 524 00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:40,800 Speaker 1: more voltage, I guess I should say. Now. Brown's passionate 525 00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:45,240 Speaker 1: arguments against alternating current and his involvement in the construction 526 00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:49,920 Speaker 1: of the first electric chair often get slightly misconstrued to 527 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:52,600 Speaker 1: say Edison was involved in the creation of the electric 528 00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:57,880 Speaker 1: chair itself, and he wasn't, at least not directly, but 529 00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:01,320 Speaker 1: he carries that reputation with him as well. Also, just 530 00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:03,880 Speaker 1: so you guys know, I am not a big fan 531 00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:06,240 Speaker 1: of Thomas Edison. I think a lot of the stuff 532 00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:09,480 Speaker 1: he did was really shady, But I also don't believe 533 00:34:09,480 --> 00:34:13,239 Speaker 1: in heaping on stuff that wasn't his fault on top 534 00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:17,000 Speaker 1: of the stuff that probably was his fault. Now. Brown 535 00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:21,840 Speaker 1: apparently indulged in some hanky panky over at Edison's company 536 00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:26,080 Speaker 1: when it came to powering the first electric chair. Understandably, 537 00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:30,320 Speaker 1: no power company was eager to have its name associated 538 00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:34,880 Speaker 1: with a device meant to put someone to death, especially 539 00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:38,160 Speaker 1: while they were simultaneously trying to market electricity to the 540 00:34:38,160 --> 00:34:43,520 Speaker 1: general public. Brown apparently engaged in some clandestine shenanigans to 541 00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:47,600 Speaker 1: get hold of some Westinghouse alternating current generators for the 542 00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:52,719 Speaker 1: purposes of powering the first electric chair. Further letters reported 543 00:34:52,719 --> 00:34:55,560 Speaker 1: to have belonged to Brown showed that he did that 544 00:34:56,040 --> 00:35:00,239 Speaker 1: under the direction of Edison's company. So, and that's sense 545 00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:03,839 Speaker 1: Edison did play a part in this, largely to disparage 546 00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:08,680 Speaker 1: the reputation of his rival, which is gross. As for 547 00:35:08,760 --> 00:35:13,040 Speaker 1: the design and production of the chair itself, that dubious 548 00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:16,680 Speaker 1: honor largely went to Edwin R. Davis. He was an 549 00:35:16,719 --> 00:35:20,080 Speaker 1: electrician in the employment of the Auburn Prison in New York. 550 00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:25,160 Speaker 1: The chair was designed to restrain the prisoner. Two electrodes 551 00:35:25,200 --> 00:35:28,600 Speaker 1: would make contact with the prisoner's skin. One was designed 552 00:35:28,640 --> 00:35:31,880 Speaker 1: to rest against the top of the prisoner's shaved head, 553 00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:34,719 Speaker 1: and the other would be positioned to make contact with 554 00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:38,240 Speaker 1: the prisoner's back. Each electrode was a disc of metal 555 00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:41,080 Speaker 1: mounted on a rubber pad, and each disc was also 556 00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:45,560 Speaker 1: covered with a sponge soaked in brine. The first person 557 00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:50,040 Speaker 1: to be executed via electric chair was William Francis Kemmler. 558 00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:53,839 Speaker 1: Kimbler made his living selling vegetables in Buffalo, New York. 559 00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:58,640 Speaker 1: He was a known drunkard. In eight he got into 560 00:35:58,680 --> 00:36:03,480 Speaker 1: a vicious argument with his girlfriend or common law wife, 561 00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:07,960 Speaker 1: Tilly Ziegler. He was intoxicated at the time. He then 562 00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:11,880 Speaker 1: reportedly killed Tilly with a hatchet before walking over to 563 00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:15,040 Speaker 1: a neighbor's house and confessing to the crime. He was 564 00:36:15,160 --> 00:36:19,080 Speaker 1: arrested and convicted and sentenced to die. Now the path 565 00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:23,319 Speaker 1: from sentencing to the electric chair was not a direct one, 566 00:36:23,719 --> 00:36:27,480 Speaker 1: and that's because Westinghouse, discovering that his equipment would be 567 00:36:27,600 --> 00:36:30,960 Speaker 1: used to power this electric chair, acted out quickly to 568 00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:33,879 Speaker 1: try and prevent this from happening, and he was sort 569 00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:36,719 Speaker 1: of behind a lawsuit that was brought against New York 570 00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:41,480 Speaker 1: State claiming that electrocution would amount to cruel and unusual punishment, 571 00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:46,240 Speaker 1: which is against the Constitution of the United States of America. 572 00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:50,040 Speaker 1: The argument included statements that people aren't all the same, 573 00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:53,759 Speaker 1: and what might be enough voltage and current to kill 574 00:36:53,840 --> 00:36:58,080 Speaker 1: one person might prove insufficient for the next person, and 575 00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:02,600 Speaker 1: without being assured that death would be swift and in theory, painless, 576 00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:06,840 Speaker 1: this could amount to cruel an unusual punishment. The Supreme 577 00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:10,600 Speaker 1: Court ultimately weighed in on this issue, stating that there 578 00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:14,400 Speaker 1: was no basis to establish elexecution as cruel and unusual, 579 00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:18,680 Speaker 1: and the execution was to proceed. Even so, it took 580 00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:22,320 Speaker 1: a long time for these legal disputes to settle down 581 00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:26,120 Speaker 1: and for a date to be set for the execution. 582 00:37:26,360 --> 00:37:32,000 Speaker 1: That date would end up being August six. On that day, 583 00:37:32,120 --> 00:37:34,920 Speaker 1: jailer's shaved the top of Kidler's head so that the 584 00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:38,240 Speaker 1: electrode could make contact with the skin. He was escorted 585 00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:40,839 Speaker 1: to the execution room, where a group of twenty five 586 00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:45,520 Speaker 1: witnesses were gathered, including fourteen doctors. Kimler sat in the 587 00:37:45,640 --> 00:37:48,880 Speaker 1: chair and jailer's secured restraints around his arms, his legs, 588 00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:52,399 Speaker 1: and his waist. The jailer's placed the electrode on Kimler's back, 589 00:37:52,719 --> 00:37:54,440 Speaker 1: and they strapped the other one to the top of 590 00:37:54,440 --> 00:37:57,560 Speaker 1: his head. They placed a black cloth over his head 591 00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:02,040 Speaker 1: as well. The all renaming current generator began to charge up, 592 00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:05,840 Speaker 1: now supposed to build up a charge of two thousand 593 00:38:05,920 --> 00:38:09,399 Speaker 1: volts or a potential difference of two thousand volts, which 594 00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:12,600 Speaker 1: would be well over the fifteen hundred volts that Brown 595 00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:16,600 Speaker 1: had suggested, but according to reports, the shock was administered 596 00:38:16,600 --> 00:38:20,480 Speaker 1: at only seven hundred volts for seventeen seconds, whereupon a 597 00:38:20,560 --> 00:38:25,520 Speaker 1: physician signaled that Kimbler was dead. The executioner had when Davis, 598 00:38:25,560 --> 00:38:29,120 Speaker 1: now known as the State Electrician, shut off power, and 599 00:38:29,160 --> 00:38:33,520 Speaker 1: then witnesses said that Kimler made noises and was clearly breathing. 600 00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:39,440 Speaker 1: It was a horrifying situation. Making matters worse was that 601 00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:42,560 Speaker 1: the generator would need time to build up the voltage 602 00:38:42,640 --> 00:38:45,759 Speaker 1: again to have another go, so it was revved up, 603 00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:49,319 Speaker 1: building up to slightly more than one thousand volts when 604 00:38:49,320 --> 00:38:51,760 Speaker 1: a second shock, this one lasting more than a minute, 605 00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:57,239 Speaker 1: was sent through Kimbler. Afterward, the jailers discovered that the 606 00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:02,080 Speaker 1: very dead Kimbler had suffered pretty nasty injuries. The electrode 607 00:39:02,160 --> 00:39:06,120 Speaker 1: at his back had burnt through Kemmler's skin down to 608 00:39:06,200 --> 00:39:10,160 Speaker 1: the spine. Witnesses reported that they had seen smoke coming 609 00:39:10,200 --> 00:39:13,200 Speaker 1: from the body and head of Kimbler. A report described 610 00:39:13,239 --> 00:39:17,040 Speaker 1: him as appearing to sweat blood as capillaries burst in 611 00:39:17,120 --> 00:39:21,200 Speaker 1: his face. It definitely did not seem like the quick, 612 00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:25,840 Speaker 1: painless method that Southwick had envisioned. A deputy corner for 613 00:39:25,880 --> 00:39:28,320 Speaker 1: the State of New York had this to say about 614 00:39:28,320 --> 00:39:32,919 Speaker 1: the ordeal quote, I would rather see ten hangings than 615 00:39:33,040 --> 00:39:36,920 Speaker 1: one such execution as this. In fact, I never cared 616 00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:40,440 Speaker 1: to witness such a scene again. It was fearful. No 617 00:39:40,680 --> 00:39:44,480 Speaker 1: humane man could witness it without the keenest agony. I 618 00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:48,239 Speaker 1: am not an electrician, but I have considerable insight into 619 00:39:48,280 --> 00:39:52,800 Speaker 1: electrical matters. Electricity applied as it was today will never 620 00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:55,880 Speaker 1: serve as an executioner. And yet it is my honest 621 00:39:55,920 --> 00:39:59,080 Speaker 1: belief that things might have been a thousand times worse 622 00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:02,560 Speaker 1: than they were, though it seems almost impossible that they 623 00:40:02,600 --> 00:40:06,640 Speaker 1: could be today. The apparatus was defective to a standpoint 624 00:40:06,680 --> 00:40:10,440 Speaker 1: that approached carelessness. Even had it been perfect, we cannot 625 00:40:10,440 --> 00:40:13,040 Speaker 1: say now any better than we could a week or 626 00:40:13,120 --> 00:40:16,239 Speaker 1: a year ago, that it would do its work as 627 00:40:16,239 --> 00:40:19,520 Speaker 1: it should be done. I don't think that Kimler was 628 00:40:19,600 --> 00:40:22,759 Speaker 1: dead when the current was applied the second time, but 629 00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:29,280 Speaker 1: he was unconscious end quote. Now. Despite this gruesome display, 630 00:40:29,400 --> 00:40:33,480 Speaker 1: New York would continue to employ electrocution as a method 631 00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:38,400 Speaker 1: of execution. Several other states would follow suit. Over time, 632 00:40:38,640 --> 00:40:42,600 Speaker 1: executioners developed more reliable practices when it comes to electrocutions, 633 00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:46,880 Speaker 1: though there was no shortage of reports about botched executions 634 00:40:46,920 --> 00:40:50,120 Speaker 1: and horrible outcomes. There are cases in which people have 635 00:40:50,160 --> 00:40:52,920 Speaker 1: reported seeing the person in the chair bursting into flames. 636 00:40:53,040 --> 00:40:59,240 Speaker 1: For example, it's really chilling, horrifying stuff. Notably, only two 637 00:40:59,320 --> 00:41:04,240 Speaker 1: countries ever used the electric chair. One is the United States, 638 00:41:04,600 --> 00:41:07,840 Speaker 1: the other is the Philippines. In the US, the electric 639 00:41:07,880 --> 00:41:11,160 Speaker 1: chair today is used as an alternative method for execution 640 00:41:11,200 --> 00:41:15,840 Speaker 1: in several states. The primary method is lethal injection, but 641 00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:19,040 Speaker 1: the electric chair remains an option that inmates can choose 642 00:41:19,239 --> 00:41:22,400 Speaker 1: if they prefer it. The most recent use of the 643 00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:27,160 Speaker 1: electric chair as of this recording was August two thousand nineteen, 644 00:41:27,480 --> 00:41:31,600 Speaker 1: in the execution of convicted murderer Stephen Michael West. The 645 00:41:31,640 --> 00:41:35,239 Speaker 1: electric chair is really an American invention. There's a lot 646 00:41:35,239 --> 00:41:38,520 Speaker 1: of lore and slang around it. It can be called 647 00:41:38,800 --> 00:41:42,719 Speaker 1: the chair, or old Sparky, or the mercy seat. There's 648 00:41:42,719 --> 00:41:45,560 Speaker 1: a great nick Cave and the Bad Seeds song titled 649 00:41:45,640 --> 00:41:48,440 Speaker 1: the Mercy Seat. It could be called the hot seat. 650 00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:52,160 Speaker 1: That's where that phrase comes from. Being electrocuted also has 651 00:41:52,239 --> 00:41:57,600 Speaker 1: various slang terms associated, like ride the lightning. Since its invention, 652 00:41:57,800 --> 00:42:00,440 Speaker 1: more than four thousand people have been put to death 653 00:42:00,560 --> 00:42:03,440 Speaker 1: in the electric chair. The modern electric chair is a 654 00:42:03,480 --> 00:42:07,120 Speaker 1: bit different from the one in electrodes tend to attach 655 00:42:07,160 --> 00:42:09,840 Speaker 1: at the head the back of the leg now, not 656 00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:13,239 Speaker 1: the spine, and we no longer have the antiquated generators 657 00:42:13,280 --> 00:42:15,880 Speaker 1: that cause such a terrible problem with that first execution. 658 00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:19,920 Speaker 1: But there's still been no shortage of awful stories about 659 00:42:19,920 --> 00:42:23,319 Speaker 1: executions that did not go exactly as planned. Now I'm 660 00:42:23,360 --> 00:42:26,839 Speaker 1: closing this episode out by stating there are fifty three 661 00:42:26,880 --> 00:42:29,880 Speaker 1: countries in the world that still have the death penalty, 662 00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:33,040 Speaker 1: and I hope the United States can take itself off 663 00:42:33,400 --> 00:42:38,239 Speaker 1: that list at some point. But that wraps up this 664 00:42:38,360 --> 00:42:40,600 Speaker 1: episode of tech Stuff. As I said before, I know 665 00:42:40,680 --> 00:42:43,759 Speaker 1: it's a grim topic, but one I think is pretty important. 666 00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:49,839 Speaker 1: And it also really displays the dangers of working around electricity, 667 00:42:49,880 --> 00:42:52,120 Speaker 1: that you really need to be careful around this stuff 668 00:42:52,200 --> 00:42:56,280 Speaker 1: because it can be fatal and it has been plenty 669 00:42:56,280 --> 00:42:59,759 Speaker 1: of times before. And if you guys have suggestions for 670 00:42:59,760 --> 00:43:02,440 Speaker 1: a true episodes of tech Stuff, perhaps ones that aren't 671 00:43:02,520 --> 00:43:05,239 Speaker 1: quite so grim, get in touch with me. Let me 672 00:43:05,280 --> 00:43:08,320 Speaker 1: know the email addresses tech Stuff at how stuff works 673 00:43:08,360 --> 00:43:10,880 Speaker 1: dot com, or drop me a line on Facebook or Twitter. 674 00:43:10,920 --> 00:43:13,920 Speaker 1: The handle of both of those is text Stuff hs W. 675 00:43:14,840 --> 00:43:18,080 Speaker 1: Don't forget to visit our website that's tech Stuff podcast 676 00:43:18,120 --> 00:43:20,320 Speaker 1: dot com. You're gonna find a link to the archive 677 00:43:20,360 --> 00:43:23,080 Speaker 1: of every episode we've ever recorded. There are more than 678 00:43:23,120 --> 00:43:25,359 Speaker 1: a thousand of them out there, so go check that out. 679 00:43:25,880 --> 00:43:28,120 Speaker 1: You also find a link to our online store, where 680 00:43:28,120 --> 00:43:30,239 Speaker 1: every purchase you make goes to help the show. We 681 00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:34,239 Speaker 1: greatly appreciate it, and I'll talk to you again really soon. 682 00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:40,680 Speaker 1: Text Stuff is a production of I Heart Radio's how 683 00:43:40,760 --> 00:43:44,160 Speaker 1: stuff Works. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit 684 00:43:44,160 --> 00:43:47,279 Speaker 1: the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 685 00:43:47,320 --> 00:43:48,680 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.