The electric chair is a specialized device used for capital punishment through electrocution. The condemned is strapped to a custom wooden chair and electrocuted via electrodes attached to the head and leg. Alfred P. Southwick, a Buffalo, New York dentist, 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 became symbolic of this execution method.
The year 1903 in film involved many significant events in cinema.
William Francis Kemmler was an American murderer who was the first person executed by electric chair. He was convicted of murdering Matilda "Tillie" Ziegler, his common-law wife, a year earlier. Although electrocution had previously been successfully used to kill a horse, Kemmler's execution did not go smoothly.
Topsy was a female Asian elephant who was electrocuted at Coney Island, New York, in January 1903. Born in Southeast Asia around 1875, Topsy was secretly brought into the United States soon thereafter and added to the herd of performing elephants at the Forepaugh Circus, who fraudulently advertised her as the first elephant born in the United States. During her 25 years at Forepaugh, Topsy gained a reputation as a "bad" elephant and, after killing a spectator in 1902, was sold to Coney Island's Sea Lion Park. Sea Lion was leased out at the end of the 1902 season and during the construction of the park that took its place, Luna Park, Topsy was used in publicity stunts and also involved in several well-publicized incidents, attributed to the actions of either her drunken handler or the park's new publicity-hungry owners, Frederic Thompson and Elmer "Skip" Dundy.
Luna Park was an amusement park that operated in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, United States, from 1903 to 1944. The park was located on a site bounded by Surf Avenue to the south, West 8th Street to the east, Neptune Avenue to the north, and West 12th Street to the west. Luna Park was located partly on the grounds of the small park it replaced, Sea Lion Park, which operated between 1895 and 1902. It was the second of the three original, very large, iconic parks built on Coney Island; the others were Steeplechase Park and Dreamland. At Coney Island's peak in the middle of the 20th century's first decade, the three amusement parks competed with each other and with many independent amusements.
Sea Lion Park was a 16-acre (65,000 m2) amusement park started in 1895 on Coney Island by Paul Boyton. He fenced the property and charged admission, the park becoming the first enclosed and permanent amusement park in North America. Up until the establishment of this park, amusement areas around the country consisted of pay-as-you-go concessions. In 1903, Sea Lion Park was replaced by Luna Park.
White City is the common name of dozens of amusement parks in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Inspired by the White City and Midway Plaisance sections of the World's Columbian Exhibition of 1893, the parks started gaining in popularity in the last few years of the 19th century. After the 1901 Pan-American Exposition inspired the first Luna Park in Coney Island, a frenzy in building amusement parks ensued in the first two decades of the 20th century.
Coney Island is a 1991 documentary film that traces the history of Coney Island, the westernmost part of the barrier islands of Long Island, New York. The film covers the island's 1609 discovery by Henry Hudson, its 1870s incarnation as a respectable beach destination for city-dwellers and a showcase of the new developments ushered in by the machine age, the early 20th century, when amusement parks and innovative attractions attracted hundreds of thousands of people each day, and the gradual demise of the amusements.
A Trip to the Moon was a pioneering early dark ride, best known as the flagship and namesake of Luna Park in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City.
Execution of Czolgosz with Panorama of Auburn Prison is a 1901 silent film produced by the Edison Studios arms of Edison Manufacturing Company. The film is a dramatic reenactment of the execution of Leon Czolgosz by electric chair at Auburn Correctional Facility following his 1901 conviction for the assassination of William McKinley. It is considered an important film in the history of cinema.
The following is a list of films by Edwin S. Porter, head producer at the Edison Manufacturing Company owned by Thomas A. Edison, between 1900 and 1909. Later films were produced at the Rex Motion Picture Company and Famous Players Film Company.
"Topsy" is the 16th episode of the third season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers and the overall 38th episode, and is written by Loren Bouchard and Nora Smith and directed by Tyree Dillihay. It aired on Fox in the United States on March 10, 2013.
An Apology to Elephants is a 2013 documentary that explores abuse and brutal treatment of elephants. It showcases elephant training and the psychological trauma and physical damage done by living conditions in some zoos and circuses. It was premiered on HBO on April 22, 2013, also celebrated as an Earth Day. The documentary includes interviews with environmental activists and biologists, including Performing Animal Welfare Society co-founders Ed Stewart and Pat Derby. The film was dedicated to Derby, also known as an "elephant lady", who died on February 15, 2013.
The following events occurred in January 1903:
Rube and Mandy at Coney Island was produced, directed, shot and edited by Edwin S. Porter Copyrighted on August 13, 1903, the 725 ft., 35mm film lasted roughly 10 minutes if projected at 20 frames per second.
John Peter Haines (1851–1921) was President of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) from 1889 to 1906.
Frederic Williams Thompson was an American architect, engineer, inventor, and showman known for creating amusement rides and one of the first large amusement parks.
Elmer Scipio "Skip" Dundy Jr. was an American showman and promoter known for creating amusement rides and one of the first large amusement parks.
