Sometime this week in 1906, the infamous quack Dr. Walford Bodie received quite a shock at one of his performances in Blackburn’s Palace theater. Bodie used to challenge audience members to sit in his “electric chair,” offering 10 shillings (approximately $50 today) for every 30 seconds they could remain seated. A man named James Wright took up the challenge wearing, unbeknownst to Bodie, a special wired suit that insulated him from electric shocks. When he saw that things were not going to plan, Bodie summoned his assistants onstage to forcibly remove Wright from the chair, an act of assault that resulted in a court case in which Wright was awarded £3 (roughly $300 today).
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