{"id":16770,"date":"2022-08-06T06:05:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-06T04:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=212593"},"modified":"2022-08-06T06:21:08","modified_gmt":"2022-08-06T04:21:08","slug":"6-august-on-this-day-in-history","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/6-august-on-this-day-in-history\/","title":{"rendered":"6 August: On this day in history"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Elinor Evans\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Saturday, 06 August 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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6 August 1660\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Spanish baroque artist Diego Velazquez died in Madrid. As court painter to King Phillip IV he had, in addition to religious, historical and genre scenes, produced scores of portraits of the Spanish royal family.<\/p>\n

6 August 1759<\/h3>\n

Philologist and schoolteacher Eugene Aram was hanged for murder in York. His story was dramatised by Thomas Hood in his ballad The Dream of Eugene Aram.<\/em><\/p>\n

6 August 1861\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Lagos was formally annexed by Britain. It was declared a colony in the following March.<\/p>\n

6 August 1890:\u00a0The electric chair claims its first victim\u2026 eventually<\/h3>\n

The \u2018humane alternative\u2019 to hanging proves anything but as the condemned takes minutes to die<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

On 6 August 1890, William Kemmler was woken at 5am. He put on his best clothes and ate a quick breakfast. Then, after one of his prison warders had shaved Kemmler\u2019s head, it was time to leave. Shortly after 6.30am, Kemmler walked into the last room he would ever see, where the warden and 17 witnesses were waiting. \u201cGentlemen, I wish you all good luck,\u201d Kemmler said. \u201cI believe I am going to a good place, and I am ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

A year earlier, Kemmler had murdered his lover, Matilda Ziegler, in their home town of Buffalo, New York. Sentenced to death, he spent his last days in Auburn Prison. For years the state authorities had been trying to find a more humane alternative to hanging. Now they had the solution: the electric chair.<\/p>\n

Alas, Kemmler\u2019s ground-breaking execution was something of a shambles.\u00a0When the executioner threw the switch, a current of some 1,000 volts coursed through Kemmler\u2019s body. After 17 seconds, the power was turned off. Kemmler was dead \u2013 or so it seemed. But then, despite the smell of burned flesh, somebody spotted him breathing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave the current turned on again, quick \u2013 no delay!\u201d said the doctor. The power was turned up, and smoke poured from Kemmler\u2019s head. \u201cAn awful odor began to permeate the death chamber,\u201d reported The New York Times.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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.\u201d This time, though, Kemmler was definitely dead. \u201cIt was an awful spectacle,\u201d one reporter wrote afterwards. \u201cFar worse than hanging.\u201d | Written by Dominic Sandbrook<\/strong><\/p>\n

6 August 1962<\/h3>\n

Jamaica gained independence from Britain. The newly independent country\u2019s first prime minister was Alexander Bustamante of the Jamaica labour party.<\/p>\n

Browse more On this day in history<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n