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Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla, a Serbian American inventor and engineer, was born on July 10, 1856, to
Djuka Mandic and Milutin Tesla. He and his family grew up in Smiljan, Austro-Hungarian
Empire, which is now Croatia (Nikola Tesla Timeline from Tesla Universe). Growing up, his
mother Djuka invented small kitchen appliances in her spare time, helping spark Teslas interest
in electrical invention as a young boy (Tesla - Life and Legacy). Tesla lived on the family farm
with his mother, father, and four siblings. In 1863, when Tesla was just seven years old, his
brother Daniel died in a riding accident and Tesla began having visions of him (History.com
Staff). Throughout most of his early life, he spent his time reading and immersed himself in his
Tesla started his education at home and later went to gymnasium, a school that prepares
students for university, in Carlstadt, Croatia. He excelled in his studies and was considered a
genius, being able to perform integral calculus in his head, making teachers believe he was
cheating. After completing gymnasium, Tesla attended school at Austrian Polytechnic School at
Graz where he began his studies in mechanical and electrical engineering. In school, he studied
physics and math at the Technical University of Graz and philosophy at the University of Prague
He completed school and left Graz, moving to Budapest. Here, he visualized the principle
of the rotating magnetic field, developing plans for an induction motor leading him to the
successful utilization of AC (Nikola Tesla). From Budapest, Tesla moved to Paris in 1882,
Strassburg in 1883, and then a year later, with four cents, a few poems, and calculations for a
flying machine, he sailed to America. Tesla moved to New York City in 1884 and was hired to
The beginning of Teslas life in the United States was a streak of bad luck. He worked
with Thomas Edison but, only for a year. He quit soon after being made fun of for improving the
design of Edisons DC dynamos and expecting a pay (History.com Staff). Jobless, investors
approached Tesla in search of a better method for arc lighting. Though it was not the opportunity
he had hoped for, he took it because the group was willing to finance the Tesla Electric Light
Company (Nikola Tesla). He hoped this would be big however, Tesla was once again left
Eventually, things turned around for Tesla and he became known for the rotating
magnetic field discovered in 1882, his AC motor designed in 1883, the Tesla coil he
demonstrated in a New York City lab in 1890, and a radio he invented in 1897 (Hall-Geisler).
Each of Teslas discoveries and inventions that he is famous for, he built on, creating the first
wireless remote control boat, fluorescent and neon lights, and wireless bulbs lit with energy from
the earth and an AC power plant that harnessed the hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls
(Hall-Geisler). Nikola Tesla died in 1943 and his inventions and discoveries continue to live on,
Works Cited
Hall-Geisler, Kristen. "What Were Nikola Tesla's Famous Inventions?" HowStuffWorks Science.
<https://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/famous-inventors/famous-nikola-tesla-in
ventions.htm>.
History.com Staff. "Nikola Tesla." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 14 Nov.
2017. <http://www.history.com/topics/inventions/nikola-tesla>.
Hunt, Inez Whitaker. "Nikola Tesla." Encyclopdia Britannica. Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.,
<https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nikola-Tesla>.
"Nikola Tesla." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 13 Nov. 2017. Web. 14 Nov. 2017.
<https://www.biography.com/people/nikola-tesla-9504443>.
"Nikola Tesla Timeline from Tesla Universe." Tesla Universe. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2017.
<https://teslauniverse.com/nikola-tesla/timeline/1856-birth-nikola-tesla>.
"Tesla - Life and Legacy." PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2017.
<http://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/index.html>.