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Front and rear view of the electric chair used for Kemmler's execution. Insert A: the electrode to press against the head. The first electric chair was produced by Harold P. Brown and Arthur Kennelly. Brown worked as an employee of Thomas Edison, and Kennelly, Edison's chief engineer at the West Orange facility was assigned to work with Brown on the project. To prove the danger of AC electricity and its suitability for executions, Brown and Edison publicly killed many animals with AC for the press in hopes of associating alternating current with electrical death in the midst of the current wars with George Westinghouse. It was at these events that the term "electrocution" was coined. The first person sentenced to be executed by the electric chair was William Kemmler, a convicted murderer on August 6, 1890. The first 17 second passage of current through Kemmler caused unconsciousness, but failed to stop his heart and breathing. The attending physicians, Edward Charles Spitzka and Charles F. Macdonald, came forward to examine Kemmler. After confirming Kemmler was still alive, Spitzka reportedly called out, "Have the current turned on again, quick, no delay." The generator needed time to recharge, however. In the second attempt, Kemmler was shocked with 2, 000 volts. Blood vessels under the skin ruptured and bled, and the areas around the electrodes singed. The entire execution took about eight minutes.