NIKOLA TESLA 10 July 1856 7 January 1943

NIKOLA TESLA (10 July 1856 – 7 January 1943) Scientific Inventor By Lauren Sciberras

�Nikola Tesla was born on 10 July 1856 to Serbian parents in the village of Smiljan, Croatia. Tesla, aged 37, 1893 �Tesla was the fourth of five children. He had an older brother named Dane and three sisters, Milka, Angelina and Marica. Dane was killed in a horse-riding accident when Nikola was five.

�At 17 years old, Tesla contracted cholera; he was bedridden for nine months and was near death multiple times. �Tesla's father, in a moment of despair, promised to send him to the best engineering school if he recovered from the illness (his father had originally wanted him to enter the priesthood).

Austria �In 1875, Tesla enrolled at Austrian Polytechnic in Graz, Austria, on a Military Border scholarship. �During his first year, Tesla never missed a lecture, earned the highest grades possible and passed nine exams.

�He never graduated from the university and did not receive grades for the last semester. �In December 1878, Tesla left Graz and severed all relations with his family to hide the fact that he dropped out of school.

Budapest �In 1881, Tesla moved to Budapest to work as a draftsman in the Central Telegraph Office instead. �During his employment, Tesla made many improvements to the Central Station equipment.

France �In 1882, Tesla moved to France where he worked on electrical equipment at the Continental Edison Company.

USA �He immigrated to the USA in 1884 where he worked for Thomas Edison before resigning a year later to work on his own projects. �Tesla went on to patent many of his inventions, including his AC induction motor and transformer which he licensed to George Westinghouse.

USA In 1891, Tesla became a citizen of the United States. �Tesla moved his lab to Colorado Springs in 1899 where he proved the Earth was a conductor, produced artificial lightning and became well known to his neighbours with his ambitious electrical experiments that caused booming thunder, rogue sparks and the occasional power outage.

�In addition to his AC system, coil and tower project, throughout his career, Tesla discovered, designed and developed ideas for a number of important inventions— most of which were officially patented by other inventors—including dynamos (electrical generators similar to batteries) and the induction motor.

�He was also a pioneer in the discovery of radar technology, X-ray technology and the rotating magnetic field—the basis of most AC machinery.

�Poor and reclusive, Nikola Tesla died on January 7, 1943, at the age of 86, in New York City—where he had lived for nearly 60 years.