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Nikola Tesla

Tesla, aged 34, 1890, photo by Napoleon Sarony

Born10 July 1856Smiljan, Austrian Empire (modern-day Croatia)

Died7 January 1943 (aged 86)New York City, New York, USA

CitizenshipAustrian Empire (10 July 1856 – 1867)United States (30 July 1891 – 7 January 1943)

Education Graz University of Technology (dropped out)Engineering career

Engineering discipline

Electrical engineeringMechanical engineering

Significant projects

Alternating current,high-voltage, high-frequency power experiments

Significant design

Induction motorRotating magnetic fieldTesla coilRadio remote control vehicle (torpedo)[1]:355

Significant awards

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Signature

Nikola Tesla (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Тесла; 10 July 1856 – 7 January 1943) was a Serbian American[2][3][4][5] inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and futurist best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system.[6]

Tesla gained experience in telephony and electrical engineering before immigrating to the United States in 1884 to work for Thomas Edison in New York City. He soon struck out on his own with financial backers, setting up laboratories and companies to develop a range of electrical devices. His patented AC

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induction motor and transformer were licensed by George Westinghouse, who also hired Tesla for a short time as a consultant. His work in the formative years of electric power development was also involved in the corporate struggle between making alternating current or direct current the power transmission standard, referred to as the war of currents. Tesla went on to pursue his ideas of wireless lighting and electricity distribution in his high-voltage, high-frequency power experiments in New York and Colorado Springs and made early (1893) pronouncements on the possibility of wireless communication with his devices. He tried to put these ideas to practical use in his ill-fated attempt at intercontinental wireless transmission, which was his unfinished Wardenclyffe Tower project.[7] In his lab he also conducted a range of experiments with mechanical oscillators/generators, electrical discharge tubes, and early X-ray imaging. He even built a wireless controlled boat, one of the first ever exhibited.

Tesla was renowned for his achievements and showmanship, eventually earning him a reputation in popular culture as an archetypal "mad scientist."[8] His patents earned him a considerable amount of money, much of which was used to finance his own projects with varying degrees of success.[9]:121,154 He lived most of his life in a series of New York hotels, through his retirement. He died on 7 January 1943.[10] His work fell into relative obscurity after his death, but in 1960 the General Conference on Weights and Measures named the SI unit of magnetic flux density the tesla in his honor.[11] Tesla has experienced a resurgence in interest in popular culture since the 1990s.[12]

Early years (1856–1885)

Rebuilt, Tesla's house (parish hall) in Smiljan, Croatia, where he was born, and the rebuilt church, where his father served. During the Yugoslav Wars, several of the buildings were severely damaged by fire. They were restored and reopened in 2006.[13]

Tesla's baptismal record, 28 June 1856.

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