"David G. Nagel" wrote in message
...
Tesla worked for Edison when he came up with AC power distribution.
Edison favored DC for some reason and Tesla quit and went to work for
Westinghouse. When the electric chair was proposed Edison did everything
he could to discredit it because it used Tesla's AC power.


"The first electric chair was made by Harold P. Brown. Brown was an employee
of Thomas Edison, hired for the purpose of researching electrocution and for
the development of the electric chair. Since Brown worked for Edison, and
Edison promoted Brown's work, the development of the electric chair is often
erroneously credited to Edison himself. Brown's design was based on use of
Nikola Tesla's alternating current (AC), which was marketed by George
Westinghouse and was then just emerging as the rival to Edison's less
transport-efficient direct current (DC), which was further along in
commercial development. The decision to use AC was partly driven by Edison's
claims that AC was more lethal than DC."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_chair

John H.