105 Year Anniversary of the Execution of Topsy the Elephant
Some background:
Thomas Edison was a little insane about the Dangers of Alternating Current (the kind of electricity we get out of the wall) and thought everyone should use Direct Current (the kind of electricity we get out of a battery.) It should also be noted that Edison had a vested business interest in it’s adoption and widespread use. One other fun fact is that the last building in NYC (power there is supplied by Con-Edison btw) was converted from DC to AC just this last year.
www.boingboing.net/2008
Nikola Tesla invented Alternating Current and this car company is named after him:
So to recap, Edison loved DC, hated AC, and the power company he founded only uses AC now. Tesla invented AC and the car company named after him sells battery (DC) powered electric sports cars. The elephant died for no reason at all.
I laugh, except, because of the elephant, I cries.