From genius inventor to popular socialite, today we look at the Amazing Story of Nikola
Tesla
Number 10.
Shocking Childhood Long before he was known as a brilliant inventor
synonymous with ambitious technology, Nikola Tesla was born in the Austrian Empire back
in 1856.
As if predicting his future influence on electricity and its role in society, Duka Tesla gave birth
to the Serbian scientist-to-be in the midst of a lightning storm!
The wet nurse at the time feared the coincidence to be a bad omen, supposedly claiming Nikola
to be "a child of darkness," however his mother quickly retorted, "No, he will be a child
of light."
His mother would go on to be a major influence in Nikola's life as her own penchant for inventing
household appliances stuck with him forever.
Number 9.
A Complex Mind It should come as no surprise that the genius
mind behind some of the strangest inventions to come out of the 19th and 20th centuries
would work a bit different than the average persons.
But Nikola Tesla's mental state wasn't all just abstract concepts and futuristic dreams.
From a young age, Tesla developed a photographic memory which aided in his ability to retain
information, as well as his capability for vividly visualizing his future creations.
Unlike most inventors, he was able to perceive his theorized gadgets and how they would work
in great detail without needing sketches or blueprints, relying solely on his imagination.
According to his own accounts, ever since his youth, he would sometimes experience bright
flashes of light before being struck with inspiration!
In addition to these apparent benefits, though, Tesla also suffered from some psychological
obstacles.
His work ethic often verged on the brink of obsession, and his manic mind often manifested
in compulsive behavior.
Tesla grew infatuated with the number 3, for example, and often would perform a task three
times in a row before being able to move forward.
He also had a number of fears in the form of germs, hair, and, strangely enough, pearls!
While his aversion to dirtiness derived from a near-fatal cholera experience in his teens,
the reason behind his distaste for pearls or hair remains a mystery to this day.
Number 8.
Inventor's Rivalry Tesla made the move from Europe to the United
States in 1884 and immediately went to work for another famous inventor and pioneer in
electrical engineering: Thomas Edison.
Equipped with little more than the clothes he was wearing and a letter of introduction,
Tesla was hired to help improve Edison's inventions.
Edison had already risen to prominence in the states thanks to his direct current, or
DC, form of electricity conduction.
The two worked well together for a short while before eventually going their separate ways.
The falling out came about due to their incredibly different personalities and views on science
in relation to business.
Whereas Edison was more of the entrepreneurial type, with a focus on inventions he could
market and sell, Tesla's mind was more out of touch with this aspect, leaving him vulnerable
as an inventor to patent hawks and the like.
Once he left, Tesla was free to pursue his own , through which he secured funding for
his own Tesla Electric Light Company.
Here, investors pushed the inventor to develop and improved form of arc lightning, which
he accomplished successfully before being pushed out of the company.
Luckily, he wasn't far behind developing his famous alternating-current, or AC, electrical
system, which grabbed the attention of engineers and businessmen, putting Edison's DC system
at odds with his former employee's.
Their rivalry took on a new intensity when, due to its sudden, overwhelming success, Edison
began publishing anti-AC electricity propaganda in hopes of putting the spotlight on his DC
innovations once more.
Number 7.
Electric Aspirations The development of an AC electricity system
opened many doors for Nikola Tesla.
This new power source formed the foundation of many of his most incredible inventions,
whether or not he had the patent for them.
From the creation of dynamos and induction motors to leading the charge in radar and
x-ray technology, Tesla's contributions to electric technology have been instrumental
to their success.
On a smaller scale, he is also responsible for the development of such resources as one
of the first AC hydroelectric power plants in the United States!
Having designed it at Niagara Falls in 1895, within a year the plant was used to power
all of Buffalo, New York, bringing great publicity to Tesla's brilliance and the benefits of
AC electricity.
Perhaps his greatest creation through AC electricity, though, comes from the Tesla coil.
Nikola patented the invention in the late 19th century and its creation became the groundwork
for wireless technology moving forward.
The iconic innovation utilizes a capacitor to resonate current and voltage across a circuit,
essentially using electricity to transmit different types of waves outward.
Tesla used his coil specifically for studying potential use in electromagnetism, fluorescence,
radio waves, wireless power, and x-rays.
Number 6.
Earth-Shattering Experiments Many of Tesla's experiments and creations
are incredible, verging on being out-of-this-world due to the out of the box thinking required
to conceive them.
At the same time, some of his inventions go beyond this, closer resembling the gadget
of a super villain than that of an innocent inventor.
In an attempt to craft a replacement for steam engines of the time, Tesla created a steam-powered
electrical generator called the electro-mechanical oscillator.
It couldn't quite compete with steam turbines, though, mainly due to the intense vibrations
the machine gave off.
Tesla claimed that this mechanism sent vibrations coursing through the neighborhood, causing
walls and the ground to shake furiously and sending neighbors into emergency alert.
He reportedly shut the machine off via emergency sledgehammer shot when it began resonating
at the frequency of his own building, putting himself in danger of collapse.
Before he shook his neighbors and destroyed the machine, though, Tesla was sure to give
one special guest an uncomfortably close look at the electro-mechanical oscillator.
He invited famed author and his personal friend from their shared gentleman's club, Mark Twain,
to stand on a platform near his machine when he turned on the oscillator.
Twain, who was known to have digestive issues, only lasted minutes before the quaking upset
his stomach and sent the novelist running for the restroom!
Number 5.
Early Conservationist The brilliant inventor, while often being
motivated by scientific curiosity, also was known to take comfort in the fact that his
discoveries changed the world for the better.
Money, for the most part, was seen by Tesla as a means to an end.
"All my money has been invested into experiments with which I have made new discoveries enabling
mankind to have a little easier life," he was quoted as saying.
But Tesla was equally concerned with the future of the planet, particularly the speed at which
society was using up the Earth's resources.
Part of why electrical energy became his main focus was the desire to move the world away
from depleting fossil fuels and towards a renewable source.
Much of his research involved natural energy, both above and below ground.
Tesla famously recreated lightning in his lab with his unorthodox machinery, and studied
potential Earth-based electrical sources.
Despite these experiments, though, his investors showed little interest in the discovery he
hoped to make.
J.P. Morgan, the bankroll behind Tesla's Wardenclyffe Tower, was said to be dissatisfied with the
subject of renewable energy, claiming he had nothing to gain from a power source that he
couldn't regulate.
Number 4.
Ulterior Motives Speaking of Wardenclyffe Tower, this famous
lab was one of Tesla's most famous structures, standing at 186 feet tall and located on Long
Island.
The tower was built amid a race with fellow inventor Guglielmo Marconi to see which could
be the first to successfully transmit messages across the Atlantic Ocean.
Tesla had hoped to beat his Italian rival using the tower as a long distance radio transmitter...or
at least that's what he told investors.
In reality, he had a different plan in mind.
Looking to surpass expectations, Tesla wanted to transmit electricity wirelessly, a feat
that would have surely blown Marconi's results, whatever they may be, out of the water!
More importantly, success in this endeavor would have brought one of Tesla's greatest
passion to fruition in allowing the transmission of renewable energy en mass.
However, Marconi was able to transmit the letter "s" across the ocean before he could
figure out how to send electricity, forcing Tesla to reveal his true project to investors
and concurrently causing the downfall of this project and Wardenclyffe Tower.
Number 3.
American Suspicions Given the strange, unorthodox, and sometimes
troubling nature of Nikola Tesla's proposed experiments and machines, it may come as no
surprise that the brilliant thinker drew the attention of government officials from time
to time.
For example, his famed Wardenclyffe Tower supposedly attracted the surveillance of the
United States military.
According to some reports, the tower was blown up by federal decree under the suspicion the
tower was being used by German forces to transmit radio signals during an infamous worldwide
conflict in the early 1900s.
However, many believe this to be a cover story for Tesla, who needed to scrap his creation
to recoup losses.
Over time, many of his discussed inventions became increasingly bizarre, including the
notorious "death ray", although he insisted that was a misnomer.
Tesla was one of many inventors to conceptualize such a weapon in the early 20th century, proposing
his to be more akin to a "death beam," as its mechanisms would fire off particles rather
than rays, projected with thousands of horsepower in a stream "thinner than a hair".
He believed the defense device could protect a nation from any invasion, destroying "anything
approaching within 200 miles."
This of course caught the eyes of both the United States, the United Kingdom, and the
Soviet Union, with evidence surfacing later that he attempted to sell the device to all
three, though with no success.
Many of his inventions were seized after his passing and remain classified today.
Number 2.
Brilliant Playboy Throughout all of his scientific pursuits,
Tesla maintained somewhat of an enviable societal standing.
At a height of 6'2" with a slender frame, handsome face, an incredible sense of fashion
and a prestigious reputation, he was vastly popular when he found the will to break from
his research for social interaction.
He was known for great conversation and an excellent sense of humor, winning over company
including a number of equally famous faces.
Authors like John Muir [myurr], Mark Twain, and Rudyard Kipling all called him friend.
Tesla's teasing humor shone through in one letter that he wrote after dining with Kipling,
having told a friend, "What is the matter with inkspiller Kipling?
He actually dared to invite me to dine in an obscure hotel where I would be sure to
get hair and cockroaches in the soup."
In addition to impressing famous peers, Tesla was a hit with the ladies.
Many stories tell of women being attracted to him in droves, some of which would confess
falling "madly in love" with the genius inventor.
He never married, though, and many details of his personal life remains shrouded in mystery.
Number 1.
Eccentric To The End Nikola Tesla dedicated his life to bettering
humanity, and never really put much value in monetary gain.
This left him struggling financially late in life, and by the end, he could no longer
secure funding for research.
While his contemporaries had found both success and riches, cementing their legacies for years
to come, Tesla's fell to the wayside while the majority of his time in later years was
spent on the caretaking of pigeons in the parks of New York City.
His ideas were thought to be less practical in his old age, and by the time he passed
due to coronary thrombosis in 1943, Tesla had become an impoverished recluse.
Still, his name lives on today in the advancements, inventions, and innovations he made that are
still used by society today.