One inventor publicly electrocuted animals to discredit his rival's electricity

In the late 1880s, Thomas Edison's direct current competed with Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse's alternating current to power America. Edison staged public electrocutions of stray animals with AC to brand it as deadly, but AC's ability to travel long distances at high voltage with little energy loss won out — and it still powers electrical grids worldwide today.

— Historical accounts of the War of the Currents, Nikola Tesla — Late 1880s