While kite flying Benjamin Franklin is credited with discovering electricity, there are two major schools of thought as to who is the Father of Modern Electricity. Supporters of Nikola Tesla and those of Thomas Edison square off for their man as vehemently as the rabid fans of Real Madrid face those of FC Barcelona! But before Tesla presented alternating current electricity at the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, and before Edison patented the incandescent bulb technology, there lived the electrical genius known only as Bernie!
In 1869, long before Tesla and Edison were ready, Bernie was planning a dramatic demonstration of alternating current that would surely revolutionize the commercial use of electricity. Bernie knew he needed something unique to draw wide-spread attention and reasoned a practical display to help the human condition would work best. To that end he developed a machine that would make toast for the morning meal in a matter of seconds. He called it simply a “Toaster,” an appliance that would revolutionize breakfast.
Unfortunately Bernie, a prolific multi-tasker, and was putting the finishing touches on his electric toaster while taking a bath. Mid-toast the unit slipped off the side of the tub into his bath putting an end to Bernie and delaying for many years the invention of the electric toaster. But although his name is forgotten, his legacy goes on. The murder by toaster in a bathtub scenario has been repeated a thousand times in cheesy television police dramas.
Bernie was and always will be the first!