Topsy the Elephant Electrocuted 114 Years Ago Today

A circus elephant named Topsy that had killed three men was deemed a threat and killed by electrocution on January 4, 1903.

The original plan was to hang Topsy at an amusement park on Coney Island and charge admission but the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals stepped in and stopped that plan. A combination of poisoning, strangulation and electrocution was then decided upon.

It was reported that Thomas Edison carried out the grisly electrocution (this is disputed, http://edison.rutgers.edu/topsy.htm) and the event was captured on film. At the time Edison was in a battle with George Westinghouse to see whose electricity format would win out. Edison championed DC; Westinghouse favored AC. Edison used the electrocution of Topsy the elephant as a way to attempt to show that AC electricity was dangerous.

The film became something of a curiosity and was in high demand for years.



https://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/2010/06/02/an-elephants-death-at-coney-island/

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart...r-captors-not-really-thomas-edison-180961611/