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Nikola Tesla
Life Details
Born: July 9th, 1856. Died: January 7th, 1943.
Introduction
Nikola Tesla was an inventor, no doubt. He invented many items that we use in today's modern world, including alternating current, a Tesla coil that was used in radio technology, and so much more that he wasn't always credited with.
Early Life & Educaiton
Tesla was born to an Orthodox priest and an unschooled mother who was highly intelligent. He was born in Smiljan, Croatia, and was a Serbian American.
One of five children, Tesla's interest in electrical invention was spurred by his mother, Djuka Mandic, who invented small household appliances in her spare time, while her son was growing up.
Tesla studied in several institutes, including the Realschule, Karlstadt in Germany, the Polytechnic Institute in Graz, Austria and the University of Prague during the 1870s. After that, he moved to Budapest, where he worked for a time at the Central Telephone Exchange.
Inventions
It was here that he came up with his idea for an induction motor, and after seeking interest for it in Europe, he decides at age 28 to move to America.
He arrived in the USA in 1884, and soon met up with Thomas Edison, who was working on DC-based electrical works. Edison hired Tesla, and they began working tirelessly on making improvements to Edison's inventions.
No sooner had they began to work together that they split up. Because of their different personalities and what drove them both, they didn't see eye to eye on many components of what they were working on.
In 1885, Tesla received funding for the Tesla Electric Light Company, and was tasked to develop arc lightning improvements. He was later forced out of the business, and two years later he received more funding for his new Tesla Electric Company.
Among the inventions Tesla created were:
- dynamos
- electric induction motor
- radar technology
- X-ray technology
- remote control
- rotating magnetic field - the basis of AC machinery
- Tesla coil
- AC hydroelectric power plant
- wireless technologies (we could have has WiFi a lot sooner!)
Battle
A fierce battle between Tesla, George Westinghouse (who Tesla has worked with to promote the AC technology) and Edison ensued in the late 1880s and 1890s, as both were trying to supply the country with either AC electricity (Tesla), or DC electricity (Edison).
It wasn't until 1893 that AC won, when Tesla and Westinghouse were chosen to supply the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
More inventions followed, including wireless technology that provided free energy to everyone. Tesla was really ahead of his time, and although we now pay for these items, we do have wireless technology (your mobile phone is completely wireless!) and energy provided in similar fashion (again, your mobile phone may charge wirelessly!)
A death ray, one of Tesla's last ideas where he was becoming more and more eccentric, received the attention of the FBI and Soviet Union during World War 2.
Death
Poor and reclusive, Tesla died at the age of 86 in New York City of a coronary thrombosis. He had lived there for nearly 60 years. His inventions created a major legacy that lives on to this day. A street sign identifying "Nikola Tesla Corner" was installed near his former laboratory, on the intersection of 40th Street and 6th Street.
