Name Henry Transtrom | Died 1951 | |
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Henry Leroy Transtrom (1885–1951) was an American inventor and showman who worked with high voltage electricity. His book, Electricity at High Pressures and Frequencies, (1913) is still used as a guide for constructing homemade Tesla coils.
Transtrom was best known for his dramatic stunts and performances with high frequency, high voltage electricity from a Tesla coil. For his "Lightning Man" demonstrations, he stood on a large Tesla coil which made sparks (electrical discharges) come out from his outstretched fingertips.
Death
There is a long-standing rumour that Transtrom was electrocuted during one of his demonstrations when one of these long sparks reached the primary coil of the device, thus coupling and drawing enough current to kill him, making him one of only three people to have been killed by a Tesla coil. No source has been found for where this rumour originated; it had been passed around among Tesla coil hobbyists for years. In 2010 a blogger claimed have received an email from Timara Zizzo, who claimed to be Mr. Transtrom's great granddaughter and stated that the story was false, and that he died from leukemia in the presence of his daughter at his bedside.