The last name of Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) today refers to the Electric cars that Elon Musk produces. A tribute to a man who became famous for generating diverse ideas that changed daily life. As much as this car.
In the 80s of the 19th century Tesla gained fame through his participation in the so-called War of the Currents. Thomas Edison promoted direct current (DC)because they considered it safer than the alternative (AC).
So George Westinghouse, who supported alternating current because it could transmit electricity over long distances, He asked Tesla to sell him his patents. Tesla agreed, foregoing a large fortune if he had kept her.
This is one of the reasons why this tireless inventor, known as a showman, sought after by women, but a confirmed bachelor, died with a few dollars in his pocket.
Tesla was born in Croatia A stormy summer night. That’s why the midwife says, “He will be a child of the storm.” His mother replied, “No, he will be a son of light.” The prophecy, of course, came true.
An article in Smithsonian Magazine states: “As a student, Tesla demonstrated such a remarkable ability to solve mathematical problems that his teachers accused him of cheating. He became seriously ill during his teenage years, but recovered when his father agreed to let him study engineering.”
He was an excellent student, However, he dropped out of polytechnic school and began working at the Continental Edison Company. Because he really wanted to get to know Edison personally, he emigrated to the United States in 1884.
“He then claimed that he was being offered $50,000 if he could solve a series of technical problems facing Edison’s company. After accomplishing the feat, he was told that the offer was just a joke and he left the company,” the magazine says.
From there, he developed a relationship with two businessmen that led to the founding of Tesla Electric and Manufacturing. When the partners decided to focus on power, they confiscated the company’s intellectual property and formed a new one. Tesla was left with nothing and had to dig trenches for $2 a day to survive.
In 1887, he met two investors who agreed to support the creation of the Tesla Electric Company. With a lab in Manhattan, developed the AC induction motor, which solved several technical problems that had hampered other designs. When Tesla introduced its device, the Westinghouse Company agreed to license the technology, with an upfront payment and royalties for each horsepower (HP) produced.
At the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, at Westinghouse’s request, Tesla helped illuminate the event with more lamps than could be found in the entire city and fascinated the public with various wonders, such as: wireless electric light.
In 1901, Tesla convinced JP Morgan to invest in building what he claimed was a tower on Long Island would justify his plan to electrify the world. However, Tesla’s dream did not come true.
After Guglielmo Marconi won the Nobel Prize in 1915 for the development of radio, Tesla unsuccessfully sued him for violating his patents. Although There were versions that Tesla and Edison would share the Nobel Prize, but that didn’t happen either.
“Tesla was an extraordinary person. He claimed to have a photographic memory that helped him memorize entire books and speak eight languages. He also claimed that many of his best ideas came instantaneously and that he saw detailed images of many of his inventions in his mind before he even began building prototypes. Therefore, he did not initially prepare drawings or plans for many of his devices,” says Smithsonian Magazine.
He was very tall (he was 1.88 m) and popular with women, but did not marry: he claimed that celibacy had a positive influence on his creativity. He claimed that his great ideas were born in solitude.
“In the popular imagination, Tesla played the role of a ‘mad scientist’. He claimed to have developed an engine powered by cosmic rays; that he was working on new physics different from Einstein’s that would provide a new form of energy; that he had discovered a new technique for photographing thoughts; and that he had developed a new ray that was alternately called the Death Ray and the Peace Ray,” the magazine adds.
He spent his final days in a New York hotel paid for by Westinghouse. On the morning of January 7, 1943, he was found dead in his room by a chambermaid.
Tesla in his laboratory in 1899. The advertising image shows the wireless transmission of electricity.
The confrontation between Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison is called the “War of Currents,” a technological and commercial conflict.
