Menelik was the king of Ethiopia from 1899 to 1913. He heard about a new device that could be used for dealing with hardened criminals, so he ordered one. When his new electric chair arrived he was severely disappointed that it wouldn’t work. It seems that Ethiopia would not have electricity for many more years. But Menelik was determined not to waste such an elaborate purchase -- he turned the thing into a throne. [1]
1. Clifton Fadman, Gen Ed., The Little Brown Book of Anecdotes, (Boston; Little, Brown & Co, 1985), 396