Edison staged animal electrocutions to convince the world his rival's current was deadly

In the late 1880s, Thomas Edison's direct-current grid faced a challenger: George Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla's alternating current, which could travel much further before losing power. Edison ran a public relations campaign branding AC as lethal, staging animal electrocutions and pushing the AC-powered electric chair. Despite the campaign, AC proved more practical and became the global standard.

— Jill Jonnes, Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World — Random House, 2003
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