Did Edison really electrocute Topsy the Elephant? It is arguably the most famous animal execution ever—the killing of Topsy the elephant at Luna Park on Coney Island in January 1903. It received national coverage in the newspapers, and the Edison Manufacturing Co.

Why did Edison electrocute an elephant?

__1903:__Thomas Edison stages his highly publicized electrocution of an elephant in order to demonstrate the dangers of alternating current, which, if it posed any immediate danger at all, was to Edison's own direct current.

Who shocked the elephant?

This is what happened in 1903. Thomas Edison had shocked Topsy the elephant using AC current, to distort the image of his rival "Nicolas Tesla" and his emerging company Westinghouse. When Edison invented the DC electric current, he founded his company Edison Lighting to distribute electricity in Manhattan.