The Cut (2015) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Edison refused JP Morgan's partnership offer because he was opposed to using his inventions for lethal purposes. During their White House meeting, Morgan proposed the deal, but Edison declined outright, stating he would not allow his inventions to be weaponized. This principled stance would later be dramatically contradicted when Edison secretly helped develop the electric chair to discredit AC current.

• jp morgan
• partnership
• edison
• financing
• electricity

Edison snubbed Westinghouse's dinner invitation out of arrogance. When Westinghouse extended an invitation to meet in Pittsburgh, Edison chose to bypass the city entirely without a second thought, disregarding Westinghouse and his wife waiting eagerly at the station. This slight motivated Westinghouse to prove the superiority of his AC technology against Edison's DC system.

• westinghouse
• dinner invitation
• edison
• pittsburgh
• rivalry

AC technology could transmit power over thousands of miles with a single generator, representing a 75% increase in efficiency compared to DC. Edison's DC system required a staggering 100,000 feet of copper wiring for every 100 customers, making it economically unsustainable for widespread electrification. AC's ability to step voltage up and down allowed power to travel vast distances cheaply.

• ac
• dc
• transmission
• efficiency
• copper wiring
• generator

Tesla left Edison's company because he felt his ideas about AC efficiency were dismissed and that Edison had reneged on a financial promise. Despite joining Edison's team in 1886, Tesla grew increasingly frustrated by Edison's refusal to adopt his revolutionary ideas. When his contributions were treated as a jest, Tesla quit, believing his work was not valued.

Foreshadowing: Tesla's arrival at Edison's team was foreshadowed by Westinghouse's AC demonstration in Great Barrington earlier that year.

• tesla
• edison
• resign
• ac technology
• financial promise

Edison became involved with the electric chair as a desperate attempt to discredit AC technology and protect his DC patents. Despite his earlier refusal to use inventions for lethal purposes, Edison secretly worked with creators of the electric chair to associate AC with danger. When William Kemmler became the first person executed by electric chair in 1890, Edison testified that AC was supposedly more humane, infuriating the public when his involvement was revealed.

Foreshadowing: Edison's public campaign against AC as dangerous had already established his willingness to smear the competing technology.

• electric chair
• ac
• danger
• kemmler
• execution
• edison

William Kemmler was the first person to die by electric chair in 1890. The execution was botched and extraordinarily brutal, sparking public outrage. When it was revealed that Edison had secretly helped develop the electric chair and testified that AC was humane, the media turned against him. This exposed Edison's hypocrisy and willingness to use deadly methods to win the current war, leading to his public vilification.

• william kemmler
• execution
• electric chair
• media
• edison reputation

Westinghouse won the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition contract because his AC system was far more practical and efficient for large-scale power distribution. Both Edison and Westinghouse submitted competing bids to electrify the Chicago fair, with Insull representing Edison's interests. The radiant success of the exposition under AC power conclusively demonstrated AC's superiority, marking Westinghouse's decisive victory in the current war.

• world's columbian exposition
• chicago
• westinghouse
• ac
• contract
• 1893

Tesla died alone and impoverished in a New York hotel room because financial constraints and corporate conflicts repeatedly derailed his success. After leaving Edison, Tesla teamed up with Westinghouse to develop a functional AC motor, but tensions with investors escalated. Tesla was ultimately dismissed from his own company and never reaped the financial rewards of his innovations, dying in poverty despite revolutionizing electricity distribution.

• tesla
• poverty
• death
• niagara falls
• innovations
• westinghouse

On September 4, 1882, the New York Stock Exchange became the first building illuminated by Edison's DC system, marking a major milestone in his quest to electrify Manhattan. This success validated his vision and demonstrated that DC could work on a commercial scale, though the system remained limited to dense urban areas where the costly wiring infrastructure was feasible.

• nyse
• edison
• lighting
• september 4 1882
• dc
• manhattan

The rivalry began when Westinghouse, intrigued by Edison's achievements, invited him to dinner in Pittsburgh. Edison's arrogance led him to snub this invitation entirely, bypassing Pittsburgh without even responding. This insult motivated Westinghouse to prove his AC technology superior to Edison's DC system, transforming a business competition into a bitter, personal feud with significant technological and ethical stakes.

• edison
• westinghouse
• rivalry
• current war
• ac
• dc