TESLA : MAN OUT OF TIME

Early Life

Nikola Tesla was born on July 10, 1856, in what is now Smiljan, Croatia. He was one of five children which included siblings Dane, Angelina, Milka and Marica, in the family. Tesla's interest in electrical invention was encouraged by his mother, Djuka Mandic, who invented small household appliances in her spare time while her son was growing up. After studying in Graz, Austria; and the University of Prague during the 1870s, Tesla moved to Budapest. It was while in Budapest at the age of 28 Tesla decided to leave Europe for America.

Famed Inventor

In 1884 Tesla arrived in the United States and went to meet Thomas Edison. Edison hired Tesla, and the two men were soon working alongside each other, making improvements to Edison's inventions. However, several months later, the two went their own ways due to a difficult business-scientific relationship, which many say was because of their different personalities. In 1885 Tesla received funding for the Tesla Electric Light Company. This business did not go well and he had to do other jobs to earn enough money to survive. His luck changed in 1887, when he was able to find interest in his AC electrical system and funding for his new Tesla Electric Company. In 1895, Tesla designed the first AC hydroelectric power plant in the United States, at Niagara Falls. The following year, it was used to power the city of Buffalo, New York. This new system would quickly become the power system of the 20th century, and it has remained the worldwide standard ever since.

The Down Fall

Tesla became obsessed with the wireless transmission of energy and in 1900 started to work on his biggest project: to build a global, wireless communication system. In 1901 Tesla began work on the project, designing and building a lab with a power plant and a massive transmission tower on a site on Long Island, New York. However, some of his investors began to question if his invention would work. In 1917 Tesla became bankrupt and the tower was taken down and sold for scrap to help pay his debts.

Death and Legacy

After suffering a nervous breakdown, Tesla eventually returned to work.  But as time went on, his ideas became crazy. He even drew the attention of the FBI with his talk of building a powerful "death beam," which had received some interest from the Soviet Union during World War II.

Nikola Tesla died on January 7, 1943, at the age of 86, in New York City, where he had lived for nearly 60 years. But the legacy of the work he left behind him lives on to this day