Thomas Edison
overies/news/2008/01/dayintech_0104 |title=Jan. 4, 1903: Edison Fries an Elephant to Prove His Point |accessdate=January 4, 2008|author=Tony Long |date=January 4, 2008 |publisher=AlterNet|archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5umTeRG1I |archivedate = December 6, 2010|deadurl=no}}</ref> His company filmed the electrocution.
AC replaced DC in most instances of generation and power distribution, enormously extending the range and improving the efficiency of power distribution. Though widespread use of DC ultimately lost favor for distribution, it exists today primarily in long-distance high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission systems. Low-voltage DC distribution continued to be used in high-density downtown areas for many years but was eventually replaced by AC low-voltage network distribution in many of them.[1]
DC had the advantage that large Minister of Posts and Telegraphs Louis Cochery, designated Edison with the distinction of an 'Officer of the Legion of Honour' (Légion d'honneur) by decree on November 10, 1881;[2]
In 1983, the United States Congress, pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 140 (Public Law 97—198), designated February 11, Edison's birthday, as National [[Inventor
- ^ Lee, Jennifer (November 14, 2007). "Off Goes the Power Current Started by Thomas Edison". The New York Times Company. Retrieved December 30, 2007.
- ^ NNDB online website. The same decree awarded German physicist Hermann von Helmholtz with the designation of Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor, as well as Alexander Graham Bell. The decree preamble cited "for services provided to the Congress and to the International Electrical Exhibition"