Last of the DC Power

In 1882 Thomas Edison opened his Pearl Street power station to provide DC current to New York City. Most of us know who Thomas Alva Edison is. The man developed a long lasting light bulb as well as the phonograph. According to wiki he was also one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production and has been credited with the creation of the first industrial research lab. He is also one of the most prolific inventors in history as well, holding over a thousand patents in the U.S. alone as well as the UK, France and Germany.

Anyway, this is only about him indirectly. Mainly because he was a proponent of Direct Current electricity as provided by his company and became involved in a 'war' against Charles Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla (the inventor of AC or Alternating Current). Edison felt that DC power was much more safe for use. AC is much more economical and can be transmitted much farther distances than DC, as Direct Current would have required a station approximately every mile to carry the power. Obviously AC power won out, at least in most sections of the country. There have been some holdouts over the last century though, and Wednesday Con Edison ended 125 years of direct current electricity service. Con Edison has been converting power over the last few years for old buildings that still needed it and have shut off the supply of DC current forever.

While obviously the better technology won out, it seems almost an end of an era (that should have ended 80 years ago).