Scumbags in History

Thomas Alva Edison:

Most Americans know Edison for his multitude of inventions. No doubt, the man knew how to think out a problem and surround himself with good engineers as well. But why dwell on the typical, I'd like ot take this oppurtunity to mention that he could be a piece of shit as well.

First of all, the man knew how to promote a product. He was in a running battle with Westinghouse who favored alternating current electricity, while Edison was sponsoring direct current. Part of Edison's big push against AC was that it was "too dangerous". To demonstrate this he displayed electrocutions of stray dogs & cats. Yup, you heard me right, he flipped the switch on dogs and cats. Even fried an elephant which had gone wild and killed some people at an exhibit on Coney Island. It was apparently filmed as well for demonstration. Although he was against the death penalty, he did allow his employees to design an electric chair operating with AC. Now that is going the extra distance to put your competitior's product to the test. I don't think I've seen anyone recently kill live animals as part of product comparison.

Edison didn't just invent his own products, he incorporated other people's products as well. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Edison and his people were ecstatic about George Melies' Le Voyage dans La Lune, an early Science Fiction film that was quite amazing for the time. Apparently some of Edison's men saw this groundbreaking motion picture and knew how important it was going to be. So they had copies made and then distributed them in the US before Melies had a chance. I guess royalties were not in vogue back then as Melies was stiffed.

So, Thomas Alva Edison I salute you. There were people far better than you, there were people far worse than you.. all in all you were a fine scumbag of your time