Birth(+)Fact(x)Death(-)Calendar ||| 28 March 1941

Birth(+)Fact(x)Death(-) Calendar

Kemmler was the first person in the world to be legally executed using an electric chair. He murdered his common-law wife Matilda 'Tillie' Ziegler with a hatchet on 29 March 1889. Current of 1.000 volts was passed through Kemmler for 17 seconds and he was declared dead by Dr. Edward Charles Spitzka. Witnesses noticed Kemmler was still breathing so attending physicians Dr. Spitzka and Dr. Charles F. Macdonald came forward to examine Kemmler. After confirming he was still alive Spitzka called out "Have the current turned on again, quick — no delay." In the second attempt Kemmler was shocked with 2.000 volts. Blood vessels under the skin ruptured and bled and some witnesses erroneously claimed his body caught fire. The New York Times reported instead that "an awful odor began to permeate the death chamber, and then, as though to cap the climax of this fearful sight, it was seen that the hair under and around the electrode on the head and the flesh under and around the electrode at the base of the spine was singeing. The stench was unbearable."
(6 August 1890)

Birth(+)Fact(x)Death(-)Calendar 1990

There are 3359 births, 3910 deaths, 1122 murders, 494 disasters and 2072 other events about 5713 people in 6416 places until today.

Birth(+)Fact(x)Death(-) Calendar is an ongoing project since 1985 by DDV.

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BirthFactDeath (-) Friday 28th of March 1941 83 years ago She Did what Seemed the Best Thing to Do
Writer Virginia Adeline Stephen Woolf commits suicide by drowning at the age of 59 in River Ouse, Rodmell, Sussex, United Kingdom. Woolf put on her overcoat, filled its pockets with stones, walked into the River Ouse near her home and drowned herself. Her body was not found until 18 April 1941. "I feel certain that I am going mad again: I feel we can't go through another of those terrible times. And I shan't recover this time. I begin to hear voices, and can't concentrate. So I am doing what seems the best thing to do. You have given me the greatest possible happiness... I can't fight it any longer, I know that I am spoiling your life, that without me you could work."