In 1886, the state of New York established a commission to find a better way of executing criminals, than hanging. They wanted something quick that would not be cruel or painful.

What was born, in the manufacturing facilities of the two leading electrical firms in America, George Westinghouse and Thomas Edison, was the electric chair. But strangely enough, neither one of them wanted their invention chosen. That was because Edison was a proponent of direct current delivery of electricity, a system that was not as efficient in moving current along, but which was further developed at the time. Westinghouse was just entering what would become The Current Wars, with alternating current. He didn't want his chair chosen, because of fears that consumers would associate the AC current that he was building into appliances, with something lethal.

On the other hand, Edison purposely developed an AC current electric chair in order to prove how dangerous the power source was. The chair itself was invented by one of his employees, Harold P. Brown. They tested it on animals, including a circus elephant, and even held demonstrations for the press. It proved its power, and was chosen by the commission in 1889.

On Aug.6, 1890, William Kemmler of Buffalo, New York was the first person executed in the new electric chair, for the axe murder of his common-law wife, the year before. The first jolt of electricity, administered for 17 seconds, failed. It was turned up to 2,000 volts, but the generator needed to recharge and it was some minutes before the semi-conscious prisoner was submitted to a second jolt lasting several minutes, a process which was described for the smells and smoke, as far worse than hanging.