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The electric chair was invented in the USA. In 1887, New York State established a committee to determine a new, more humane system of execution to replace hanging. Alfred P Southwick, a member of the committee, developed the idea of putting electric current through a device such as a chair. The first electric chair was made by Harold P Brown and Arthur Kennelly. Both were employees of inventor Thomas Alva Edison and it operated on AC current. It was first used on August 6, 1890 for the execution of William Kemmler in New York's Auburn Prison. The execution was not a success and took eight minutes before Kemmler was finally pronounced dead.

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13y ago

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