War of the currents

The late nineteenth-century competition over electrical power systems, chiefly between Thomas Edison’s direct current and George Westinghouse’s alternating current.

Direct current: Electric current that flows in a constant direction. Edison’s system supplied current in one direction but was difficult to transmit over long distances.
Thomas Edison: An American inventor and entrepreneur whose companies developed and promoted electric lighting and direct-current power systems. Edison championed DC networks and led public efforts to discredit AC.
Pearl Street Station: A central power station opened in Manhattan in 1882 to supply Edison’s direct-current lighting system. It exemplified the early urban DC model, whose reach was limited by voltage drop.
Electric grid: An interconnected network for generating, transmitting, and distributing electrical power. The AC system’s transmission advantages helped make interconnected regional grids feasible.
Alternating current: Electric current that periodically reverses direction. Westinghouse’s system could change voltage for efficient long-distance transmission.
George Westinghouse: An American industrialist who founded the Westinghouse Electric Company and backed alternating-current technology. Westinghouse built the business and infrastructure that made AC a serious competitor.
War of the currents electric chair campaign: A campaign in the 1880s that used electrocution and the electric chair to associate alternating current with danger. It shows how technical competition became a public battle over safety and reputation.
Electrification: The expansion of electrical power use across homes, industry, and public infrastructure. The contest’s outcome accelerated the infrastructure that made widespread electrification possible.
Transformer: An electrical device that changes alternating-current voltage through electromagnetic induction. Transformers let AC travel at high voltage and reach customers at lower voltage.
Nikola Tesla: A Serbian-American inventor whose patents and designs advanced alternating-current motors and power systems. Tesla’s AC patents became central to Westinghouse’s technical advantage.

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