Hacker Cinema
Electrocuting an Elephant
1903 · Film · documentary · 1 min
Directed by Edwin S. Porter
Film depicting the killing of Topsy, an elephant employed to help build Luna Park on Coney Island.
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> On January 4, 1903, in front of a small crowd of invited reporters and guests Topsy was fed poison, electrocuted, and strangled, the electrocution ultimately killing her. Amongst the press that day was a crew from the Edison Manufacturing movie company who filmed the event. Their film of the electrocution part was released to be viewed in coin-operated kinetoscopes under the title Electrocuting an Elephant. It is probably the first filmed death of an animal in history.
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