Have you heard that the electric chair was invented by a dentist? One of the most easily recognisable methods of execution in the 20th century and beyond is the electric chair. It has been used for decades, and its sight is often enough for many to realise that it is a device designed to end ones life. But why does it look the way it does? Obviously there’s no need for comfort, but it has a stark resemblance to something that we would all be more familiar with. A dentists chair. But why would a dentist invent the electric chair?
The reason the electric chair was invented by a dentist
Back in the day when electric chairs first made their entrance into their gruesome role, the only chairs that had the versatility and functionality required to fulfil the role adequately enough for the executioner were those used by dentists. The chairs designer designer, Alfred P. Southwick was a dentist and was also on the committee to try and find a kinder, more humane alternative to hanging. This is when he hit upon the idea to use a device he used on a daily basis, the dentists chair.
As he was familiar with working with people in chairs as a dentist, he designed the first electric execution device that can restrain the condemned. By all accounts the design of the first electric chair invented by a dentist was adequate enough to perform the role sufficiently well.
We all know how scary a dentist is, so it would be fitting that the electric chair was invented by a dentist.
