On this day: August 6
POSTED: 03:21 PM PDT Aug 03, 2012
UPDATED: 11:00 PM PDT Aug 05, 2012
The electric chair is used for the first time, a TV great and pop art legend share a birthday, America drops the A-bomb on Hiroshima and the country's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice is confirmed, all on this day.
Public domain
1890: At Auburn Prison in New York, murderer William Kemmler becomes the first person to be executed by electric chair. Kemmler was first electrocuted with 1,000 volts for 17 seconds, rendering him unconscious but failing to stop his heart or breathing. A second attempt with 2,000 volts was successful, but singed his hair and skin.
