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Electric chair at the Florida State Prison. The electric chair is a specialized device used for capital punishment through electrocution. The condemned is strapped to a custom wooden chair and electrocuted via electrodes attached to the head and leg. Alfred P. Southwick, a Buffalo, New York dentist, conceived this execution method in 1881.
They explored many forms of execution and in 1888 recommended electrocution using Southwick's electric-chair idea with metal conductors attached to the condemned person's head and feet. With their advice, the first law allowing the use of electrocution went into effect in New York State on January 1, 1889. [ 2 ]
The electric chair is a replica of the original. In the United States, an execution chamber will usually contain a lethal injection table. In most cases, a witness room is located adjacent to an execution chamber, where witnesses may watch the execution through glass windows.
Through his family associations, young Leuchter claimed he was able to witness an execution performed in an electric chair. Leuchter's impression of the event was that the electric chairs used by American prisons were unsafe and often ineffective. The event led him to design modifications to the device that were adopted by many American states.
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"Gruesome Gertie" is also infamous for having the first known incident of a failed execution by electrocution in the United States. During the execution of Willie Francis on May 3, 1946, the electric chair had been improperly set up by a drunken prison guard, causing Francis to scream "Take it off!
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