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Entrepreneur Edwin Holmes installed the very first electric burglar alarm in Boston on 21 February, 1858, which deployed an electrical circuit that would trip when the connection was broken by opening a door or window, which would sound a bell.\xa0\nUnfortunately for Holmes, there wasn\u2019t much burglary going on in Boston at the time, so to get his fledgling business off the ground, he packed his bags and brought his family to New York, where he believed \u201call the country\u2019s burglars\u201d made their home.\nIn this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly look at how Holmes got around people\u2019s early fears about the dangers of electricity; reveal how he deployed the celebrities and influencers of his day to sell his product; and explain why bear traps were the burglar-deterrent of choice for many people in the pre-industrial era.\xa0\xa0\xa0\nFurther Reading:\n\u2022 \u2018A Brief History of the Invention of the Home Security Alarm\u2019 (Smithsonian Magazine, 2021): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/history-home-security-alarm-180977002/\xa0\n\u2022 \u2018Our Father\u2019s Beginning\u2019 (John Fischer, DGA Security Systems, 2008): https://web.archive.org/web/20120331144457/http://www.csaaul.org/EdwinHolmes1.html\xa0\n\u2022 \u2018The Invention That Changed New York Safety Forever\u2019 (Smothsonian channel, 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eqf8YmwqqHA\xa0\n#1800s #Inventions #Crime #US\nLove the show? Join\xa0\U0001f334CLUB RETROSPECTORS\xa0\U0001f334 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!\nPlus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.\nJoin now via\xa0Apple Podcasts\xa0or\xa0Patreon.\xa0Thanks!\nWe'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:\xa0podfollow.com/Retrospectors\nThe Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.\nTheme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.\nCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023.\n Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices