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About
The electric chair is a specialized device used for capital punishment through electrocution. The condemned prisoner is strapped to a custom wooden chair and electrocuted via electrodes attached to the head and legs. Alfred P. Southwick, a dentist in Buffalo, New York, conceived this execution method in 1881. It was developed over the next decade as a more humane alternative to conventional executions, particularly hanging. First used in 1890, the electric chair has become a symbol of capital punishment in the United States.