On May 1, 1888 Nikola Tesla was granted US patent No. 382279 for the ELECTRO MAGNETIC MOTOR, alternating current (AC) system for the transmission of electrical power. This invention spurred on the electrification of cities around the world. [1, 2, 3]
In 1889 “quite suddenly” the world was being electrified on a scale that could scarcely have been conceived. So spectacular was the rapid growth of the electric railway in the US. [p79]
In November 2, 1889 published in The Medical Record is the topic of “Electrical Injuries” by Charles Dana:
With the development of new industries or inventions there occur new disorders or new factors in the production of disease and of injuries….We are now entering upon an era of tremendous activity in the practical application of electricity. Aside from the telegraph and telephone, electricity is becoming rapidly introduced as a method of lighting, heating, motor power, and locomotion….The means by which the electrical current does harm varies, naturally, with the form in which it is used…
Influenza, the illness that had “received its name because its comings and goings were said to be governed by the ‘influence’ of the stars” and “whose descriptions had remained consistent for thousands of years” had “[s]uddenly and inexplicably…changed its character in 1889“, it would be for ever present around the world, reports Arthur Firstenberg [graph]