AC vs DC - A Historical Perspective

Ever wondered why AC current is the dominant way of transmitting and distributing power to the household? The original system developed by Edison were based on DC transmission. While Edison found the "killler app" for electricity, namely the light bulb, the AC system that is deployed world wide today was developed by Nikola Tesla for George Westinghouse. The key "sustainable" differentiation for AC over DC was the ability to convert voltages from one level to another by  the use of "Transformers". Transformers allowed AC current to be transmitted at much higher voltage (thereby, allowing power to be transmitted for longer distances by using less wiring --> cheaper) and then be down-converted to a suitable low voltage (e.g. 110V) for use at the loads.

Here is a fascinating history of the AC vs DC war. For a brief history of electricity, please check out this post.