That time Benjamin Franklin tried (and failed) to electrocute a turkey

"I have lately made an Experiment in Electricity that I desire never to repeat."

Read the whole story

 

[SixDegrees]

He found his body shook for several minutes, and described a numbness in his arms and the back of his neck, which wore off by the next morning

And yet, little did he know he probably just invented the world's first crude Taser.

Hmmm...Thanksgiving Tased Turkey.

Here, hold my beer...

 

[graylshaped]

He found his body shook for several minutes, and described a numbness in his arms and the back of his neck, which wore off by the next morning

And yet, little did he know he probably just invented the world's first crude Taser.

Hmmm...Thanksgiving Tased Turkey.

Here, hold my beer...

For thirty seconds, then I'm just going to drink it. Mind you, I'll wipe the rim first.

 

[gulthaw]

"OK Martha, stand back..." *lights in house dim*

Why did you say that name!!!??

/jk

 

[nmcalba]

My favourite Leyden jar experiment was carried out by a contemporary of Ben Franklin - the french clergyman/physicist Abbe Jean-Antoine Nollet.

He gathered 200 monks in a field, arranged in a circle about 1500m in circumference and all holding onto a wire. He then discharged a Leyden jar(s) into the wire with the intention of measuring the speed of electricity by measuring jumping monks.

Unfortunately they all seemed to jump simultaneously, leading Nollet to the conclusion that the transmission of electricity was instantanous.

Physics might be more fun if we had experiments like that nowadays.

 

[Veritas super omens]

The Founding Father once infamously electrocuted himself while trying to kill a turkey with electricity.

Nope. He shocked himself. Electrocution is a portmanteau of "electricity" and "execution," meaning if someone electrocutes themselves they die as a result.

Went straight to the comments to write this and was already beat to it. I’ve had the distinction pounded into my head so much at work I swear it makes me wince to see it used incorrectly.

Would that make elocution execution of an elector? /j

 

[Veritas super omens]

The Founding Father once infamously electrocuted himself while trying to kill a turkey with electricity.

Nope. He shocked himself. Electrocution is a portmanteau of "electricity" and "execution," meaning if someone electrocutes themselves they die as a result.

Words don't mean what you believe them to mean, they mean what we collectively believe them to mean.

"to kill or severely injure by electric shock"

If you want to debate the severity of injury here, fine. But death is not required.

I believe wheels!

 

[SixDegrees]

My favourite Leyden jar experiment was carried out by a contemporary of Ben Franklin - the french clergyman/physicist Abbe Jean-Antoine Nollet.

He gathered 200 monks in a field, arranged in a circle about 1500m in circumference and all holding onto a wire. He then discharged a Leyden jar(s) into the wire with the intention of measuring the speed of electricity by measuring jumping monks.

Unfortunately they all seemed to jump simultaneously, leading Nollet to the conclusion that the transmission of electricity was instantanous.

Physics might be more fun if we had experiments like that nowadays.

Sure. You could, for example, deduce the value of g by timing how long it took a monk tossed off the roof to hit the ground.

 

[rhgedaly]

I wish you had printed this a few days sooner; it would have saved me a great deal of pain and suffering.

 

[rhgedaly]

I give the recipe only 2 stars.

 

[IsSoMetaEvenTheAcronym]

I wonder if this incident inspired him to be extra-cautious when doing his famous kite-and-lightning experiment, and if he would've killed himself doing that had he not had this painful lesson first. Perhaps he (and we) can appreciate his later life only because he learned it well.

 

[IsSoMetaEvenTheAcronym]

"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could survive electric shocks."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGFtV6-ALoQ

"Oh the humanity!" Easily the funniest holiday-themed episode of TV ever.

 

[Deleted member 221201]

circa 1743 ...... Thanksgiving Day

Knock on the door....

Ben Franklin: "Who's there... ? "

Courier: "Prime delivery Sir.......from a Mr. Tom Jefferson.."

Ben...: "Ahh..... allright.... ...It's a Turkey....."

Courier: .."Wax seal here please..... .....Have a great Thankgiving Sir......" ...rides off

Ben......Open's note...... "Let's see what the founding father has given us..."

"Dear Ben.....
Happy Thanksgiving......
Here is a Turkey from George's farm....... if you can keep it..."




Have a great Thanksgiving everyone....

 

[Veritas super omens]

We had a hot dog cooker in the 1970s that "electrocuted" the nasty pink slime things. It had pins at each end to which the dog was attached. Close cover and in a few minutes....hot dog. A practical demonstration of electrical resistance. Cool contraption to my 12 year old mind but I never liked hot dogs.

 

[Golgo1]

Ben Franklin was a rebel indeed.
He liked to get naked while he smoked on the weed.

He was a genius but if he was today, the government would fuck him up his righteous A


Edit because apparently some folks don't appreciate the brilliance of Jack Black

 

[panton41]

We had a hot dog cooker in the 1970s that "electrocuted" the nasty pink slime things. It had pins at each end to which the dog was attached. Close cover and in a few minutes....hot dog. A practical demonstration of electrical resistance. Cool contraption to my 12 year old mind but I never liked hot dogs.

I watched Mr Wizard do that with forks and a piece of lamp wire. He used the same setup to make a sodium lamp out of a dill pickle. And, of course, the fuel-air bomb with a candle, funnel, rubber hose, a tablespoon of flour and a pressure cooker.

That show flagrantly broke OSHA and child endangerment laws in every episode. He didn't say, "hold my beer" he'd say, "Hey, Timmy, look at this!"

 

[GreenMeters]

People think of the Founding Fathers as these noble men who existed in a time of virtue and amassed great wisdom they meant to leave behind for future mortal generations, like elves sailing to the west.

But no, Ben Franklin invited people over to play spin the bottle with surprise mouth electroshock, and tormented them with animated spiders.

I have never been more proud (and, appropriately, thankful) of my ancestor than I am today.

 

[shelbystripes]

People think of the Founding Fathers as these noble men who existed in a time of virtue and amassed great wisdom they meant to leave behind for future mortal generations, like elves sailing to the west.

But no, Ben Franklin invited people over to play spin the bottle with surprise mouth electroshock, and tormented them with animated spiders.

I have never been more proud (and, appropriately, thankful) of my ancestor than I am today.

You’re the direct descendant of an electrically reanimated zombie spider? Are you part of a secret league of super spiders dedicated to protecting America?

 

[Renzatic]

You say that like it is a negative thing.

It was a negative and a positive, as Franklin quickly found out.

 

[Fatesrider]

The Founding Father once infamously electrocuted himself while trying to kill a turkey with electricity.

Nope. He shocked himself. Electrocution is a portmanteau of "electricity" and "execution," meaning if someone electrocutes themselves they die as a result.

Correct.

And, to use the terminology made popular by Edison, Franklin was trying to Westinghouse turkeys.

Actually, no...

I get the reference, but Westinghouse was an advocate of AC current. Leyden jars were definitely DC. So, if one wants to be technical, he Edisoned turkeys...

 

[Deleted member 221201]

You say that like it is a negative thing.

It was a negative and a positive, as Franklin quickly found out.

Direct and to the point.... No alternating facts

 

[Exnor]

Fact Fiend style article?

https://youtube.fandom.com/wiki/Fact_Fi ... _Smallwood

 

[akterdekk]

Leyden jar half full of water?

 

[Anadromous]

The Founding Father once infamously electrocuted himself while trying to kill a turkey with electricity.

Nope. He shocked himself. Electrocution is a portmanteau of "electricity" and "execution," meaning if someone electrocutes themselves they die as a result.

Correct.

And, to use the terminology made popular by Edison, Franklin was trying to Westinghouse turkeys.

Actually, no...

I get the reference, but Westinghouse was an advocate of AC current. Leyden jars were definitely DC. So, if one wants to be technical, he Edisoned turkeys...

If he'd truly Edisoned the turkey, he would then have rushed to the patent office and patented the concept of raising, killing, cooking and carving turkeys and all related gallinaceous fowl.

As a side note, Franklin's observation that "the birds killed in this matter eat uncommonly tender" was likely the earliest observation/implementation of post-slaughter electrical stimulation of a carcasse in order to promote tenderisation.

Which he also would have patented, if he were Edisoning the turkey.

 

[adpenner@tpn]

The Founding Father once infamously electrocuted himself while trying to kill a turkey with electricity.

Nope. He shocked himself. Electrocution is a portmanteau of "electricity" and "execution," meaning if someone electrocutes themselves they die as a result.

TIL: Franklin was a zombie

You say that like it is a negative thing.

No, he said it like it’s a bad - oh, I see what you did there.

 

[Nora Lenderbee]

So a bunch of Leyden jars (in parallel, right? Not serial?) was enough to kill a 10 lbs. turkey? That would be one hell of a way to liven up Thanksgiving without involving debating your MAGA hat wearing uncle at the table. Too bad you'd have to clean and dress it afterwards.

"OK Martha, stand back..." *lights in house dim*

Nope, you would connect the Leyden jars (each equivalent to one cell in a battery) in series to get higher voltage. The higher voltage would be sufficient to cause enough current flow through the bird to kill it.

Connect 200 common 1.5v AA cells in parallel and you still get just 1.5v, but with enough capacity to power your one-AA gadget for 200 times as long. Connect them in series and you get 300v - enough to give you a considerable shock.

 

[Wheels Of Confusion]

"Electrocute" wasn't more than a decade old before people were using to refer it to non-lethal electrocution, or even to shocks producing little if any injury. The OED's first usage from 1889 implies lethality ("1889 Trenton (New Jersey) Times 7 June 4/2 (heading) He wants to be ‘electrocuted’... An offer on the part of a man..to act as a victim..by testing the..new apparatus for executing by electricity."), but by 1899, it also applied to mere stage shows: "1899 Times 11 Apr. 1/4 Continuation of the Monster Holiday Show. Marvellous performances... See to-day, at 3 and 8, Dr. Walford Bodie electrocute a man." (The OED is at oed.com , but requires a subscription. However, many public libraries have arrangements for access; check yours' web site.)

Probably not the best instance to rely on, since it's clearly being billed in the most sensational manner (as befitting a thrill show poster). The clear understanding was that electrocution was a method of killing people. You might similarly argue that people didn't generally think being sawed in half would kill your average woman, due to all the magic shows promising to include it in their act.

We had a hot dog cooker in the 1970s that "electrocuted" the nasty pink slime things. It had pins at each end to which the dog was attached. Close cover and in a few minutes....hot dog. A practical demonstration of electrical resistance. Cool contraption to my 12 year old mind but I never liked hot dogs.

I watched Mr Wizard do that with forks and a piece of lamp wire. He used the same setup to make a sodium lamp out of a dill pickle. And, of course, the fuel-air bomb with a candle, funnel, rubber hose, a tablespoon of flour and a pressure cooker.

That show flagrantly broke OSHA and child endangerment laws in every episode. He didn't say, "hold my beer" he'd say, "Hey, Timmy, look at this!"

Not shown, once the cameras stopped: We're going to need another Timmy!

My favourite Leyden jar experiment was carried out by a contemporary of Ben Franklin - the french clergyman/physicist Abbe Jean-Antoine Nollet.

He gathered 200 monks in a field, arranged in a circle about 1500m in circumference and all holding onto a wire. He then discharged a Leyden jar(s) into the wire with the intention of measuring the speed of electricity by measuring jumping monks.

Unfortunately they all seemed to jump simultaneously, leading Nollet to the conclusion that the transmission of electricity was instantanous.

Physics might be more fun if we had experiments like that nowadays.

Sure. You could, for example, deduce the value of g by timing how long it took a monk tossed off the roof to hit the ground.

You could prove that acceleration due to gravity is independent of mass by dropping a fat monk and a skinny monk in a vacuum chamber and seeing that both strike the floor at the same time.

 

[Hopefully Smarter]

Ben Franklin, the only president of the United States who was never president of the united states.

 

[Oldmanalex]

The Founding Father once infamously electrocuted himself while trying to kill a turkey with electricity.

Nope. He shocked himself. Electrocution is a portmanteau of "electricity" and "execution," meaning if someone electrocutes themselves they die as a result.

Correct.

And, to use the terminology made popular by Edison, Franklin was trying to Westinghouse turkeys.

Actually, no...

I get the reference, but Westinghouse was an advocate of AC current. Leyden jars were definitely DC. So, if one wants to be technical, he Edisoned turkeys...

Edison wanted to electromort criminals. He fried an elephant with AC as part of his anti-Westinghouse PR campaign. Edison may have been smarter, but I suspect that Westinghouse was the better human being. (And mathematician)

 

[SixDegrees]

The Founding Father once infamously electrocuted himself while trying to kill a turkey with electricity.

Nope. He shocked himself. Electrocution is a portmanteau of "electricity" and "execution," meaning if someone electrocutes themselves they die as a result.

Correct.

And, to use the terminology made popular by Edison, Franklin was trying to Westinghouse turkeys.

Actually, no...

I get the reference, but Westinghouse was an advocate of AC current. Leyden jars were definitely DC. So, if one wants to be technical, he Edisoned turkeys...

Edison wanted to electromort criminals. He fried an elephant with AC as part of his anti-Westinghouse PR campaign. Edison may have been smarter, but I suspect that Westinghouse was the better human being. (And mathematician)

Edison almost certainly wasn't involved in Topsy's electrocution. And although he promoted electrocution as a means of execution, he did so to generate bad publicity for Westinghouse's AC.

The recently released film The Current War covers their rivalry in some detail. It's not bad, but it obviously suffered from its long production delays and repeated editing.

 

[jep123]

We had a hot dog cooker in the 1970s that "electrocuted" the nasty pink slime things.

I'd be more afraid one would come back to life. You might even call it "Frankenstein."



(Obligatory "'s monster" pedantry, blah blah blah.)

 

[dj__jg]

And I thought that Benjamin liked turkeys. He wanted them to the be national bird.

No reason for the national bird not to be tasty

 

[dagar9]

In time, this incident would pass into legend, with two effects. First, the myth that if you survive your execution, then you are officially pardoned. Second, it began the annual tradition of the President pardoning a turkey at Thanksgiving.

Since President Kennedy was the first to pardon a turkey for Thanksgiving (1963), I'd doubt that there was much connection. The idea of sending turkeys to the White House (present occupant excepted) began with a turkey dealer in 1873, as a sales gimmick. Kennedy's turkey, a gift from the turkey lobby, even came with a sign around its neck that saiid "GOOD EATING, MR. PRESIDENT".) The formal pardon didn't become an institution until 1989.

 

[MNP]

The man had quite the obsession with Turkeys.

 

[graylshaped]

The man had quite the obsession with Turkeys.

You sound judgy.

 

[Felix Aurelius]

I wonder if it's a more humane method to kill a turkey than the usual off with the head method. If you turn up the power after, you could even par cook it!

 

[hmayle]

Why is it that as soon as we invent or discover something new and marvelous the first thing we do is see what we can kill with it lol.

 

[MNP]

The man had quite the obsession with Turkeys.

You sound judgy.

Recently about 25 wild Turkeys flocked at me a block from my house. I had to retreat due to numbers. It was mildly traumatic.

 

[SixDegrees]

Why is it that as soon as we invent or discover something new and marvelous the first thing we do is see what we can kill with it lol.

Galvanism goes back to the late 1700s; static electricity has been commented on since about 600 BC. So in the case of electricity, the killing came much, much later.

 

[BobsYourUncleBob]

"I have lately made an Experiment in Electricity that I desire never to repeat."

That’s a fancy ass way of writing “I regret my choices.”

Guests at Franklin's home were frequently recruited for his experiments and practical jokes. For instance, he would have guests rub a tube to create static and then had them kiss, producing an electrical shock. He designed a fake spider suspended by two electrified wires, so that it seemed to swing back and forth of its own accord. And he devised a game dubbed "Treason," whereby he wired up a portrait of King George so that anyone who touched the monarch's crown would receive a shock. ("If a ring of persons take a shock among them the experiment is called the Conspiracy," he wrote.)

People think of the Founding Fathers as these noble men who existed in a time of virtue and amassed great wisdom they meant to leave behind for future mortal generations, like elves sailing to the west.

But no, Ben Franklin invited people over to play spin the bottle with surprise mouth electroshock, and tormented them with animated spiders.

Franklin was indeed a rather notorious character, and certainly given to such bemusement as is common to many among us. Ideally this should in no way detract from the esteem with which he and his peers are held. Rather, his appreciation of more frivolous and pranksterish pursuits should, if anything, allow us an even greater appreciation for his fulsome individuality, while maintaining a still higher regard for the noble attributes of democratic self-governance that he embraced and aspired to for us as a nation.

By raising men such as Franklin, Madison, Washington, Hamilton and others up onto pedestals of near super-human proportions, we do ourselves a great disservice that may cause us to despair that there are no such great men and women among us today. While it's true that there are none today who can measure up to societally-fashioned myth, we hobble ourselves if we insist that our leaders merely pretend to such noble heights.

Were we to recognize and accept the human fallibility common to us all, we likely could promote those women and men among us who none-the-less aspire to more egalitarian visions, and our liberal western democracy today would likely not be under concerted threat from an aspiring King George.

Edited to add: I think it's largely true that "Greatness" is thrust upon persons who find themselves in position to answer challenges arising from circumstance. Churchill would almost certainly not be "Churchill" had there been no threat to answer arising from Hitler. Right place, right time.

 

[Wheels Of Confusion]

The man had quite the obsession with Turkeys.

You sound judgy.

Recently about 25 wild Turkeys flocked at me a block from my house. I had to retreat due to numbers. It was mildly traumatic.

Afraid they were about to gobble you up?