Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Way To Go, Edison...!

We sometimes overlook the mistakes of famous people, so this piece of history should come as no surprise. In all fairness, I will admit that I have no fondness for Edison at all. He has never been one of my favorite people.

Clarence Dally



Photo credit: smithsonianmag.com

Clarence Dally, a glassblower by trade, worked at Thomas Edison’s laboratory. In 1895, Edison and Dally started experimenting with X-rays and Dally stood in radiation for hours at a time.

Five years later, Dally was already developing lesions. His left hand had been X-rayed for countless hours. When that hand became too painful to use, he switched to his right. It wasn’t long before he needed to keep his hands immersed in water to try to relieve the burning.

The burns on his hands were repaired with skin grafts from his legs. His left arm was eventually amputated, and four fingers were removed from his right hand. It was only then that Dally stopped his work with Edison, although Edison promised to support him for the rest of his life.

Dally’s right arm was removed in 1903, and he died in 1904. Edison gave up on X-rays because of the dangers.

Just one more reason to dislike Edison, as if I needed any more.

Coffee in the kitchen this morning!

6 comments:

Mamahen said...

Wow! How horrible:((

taminator013 said...

I'm with you not being a fan of Edison. The more that I learned over the years, the less I thought of him. He took the credit for moving pictures from another person and had an infamous smear campaign against Westinghouse. This one is by far the worst. What a horrible person.....

linda m said...

What a horrible thing to do to one of your employees. Just another reason for me to dislike the man.

HermitJim said...

Hey Mamahen...
It is pretty horrible, for sure.
Thanks for stopping by this morning!


Hey Taminator...
He was as much a thief as an inventor, I believe.
Thanks for coming over today!


Hey Linda...
I really believe he didn't care about people that much...just fame and fortune.
Thanks for the visit today!

JO said...

He was a ruthless man and would take what ever he wanted from anyone and for some reason he got away with it most often. What horrible and painful thing this man suffered


Kitchen works my Friend

HermitJim said...

Hey Jo...
The fact that he was so rich and well known probably had a lot to do with it.
Thanks, dear, for dropping by this morning!