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Events on Wednesday 6 August 1890 1
1890First execution by electric chairWilliam Kemmler dies at Auburn PrisonWilliam Kemmler became the first person executed by electric chair, at Auburn Prison in New York. The execution was botched and drew widespread criticism, intensifying the rivalry between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse over alternating and direct current power. It established the electric chair as a method of capital punishment in the United States.