ELECTROCUTION

method of execution widely used in the United States, in which the condemned person is subjected to a heavy charge of electric current. The prisoner is made to sit in a wired chair, and electrodes are fastened to his head and one leg so that the current will flow through his body. Several shocks may be applied. The electric chair was first used at Auburn State Prison, New York, on Aug. 6, 1890, and eventually became the preferred method of executing criminals in the United States. In 1915 Pennsylvania adopted the chair, and it came to be used in 24 states. It was also adopted in the Philippines and in the former Republic of China.