Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla circa 1896

Tesla's birthplace

Nikola Tesla (July 10, 1856– c. January 7, 1943; Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Тесла) was a Serbian inventor, physicist, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer. He was born in Smiljan, in the part of former Austria-Hungary that is now the Republic of Croatia. He later became an American citizen.

Tesla invented an early form of the radio. His main discoveries were in the fields of magnetism and electricity. He is best known for his contributions that led to the development of alternating current, following the "Current War" against direct current. The advantage that popularized alternating current is that less of it is lost when the current is transmitted over long distances.

The SI unit measuring magnetic flux density or magnetic induction (commonly known as the magnetic field $B\,$), the tesla, was named in his honor. He also invented several forms of oscillators.

Tesla died in room 3327 of the New Yorker Hotel on January 7, 1943. Tesla got his first job in Budapest, working at a telephone company. Even in his early life, he was inventing things. He invented a loudspeaker for telephones. Tesla also had mental problems starting from an early age, suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Early life

Tesla was born on July 10, 1896, in Smiljan, Austrian Empire. Tesla's father was a priest in the Serbian Orthodox Church, and his mother was a housewife. he was the fourth kid out of five, with one older brother, Dane, two older sisters, Angelina and Milka, and one younger sister, Marcia.

References

Book sources

Goodman, Robert (1999). Inventors and Explorers of the 20th Century. Allied Publishers. p. 27. ISBN 8424177576. Retrieved February 21, 2011.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)

Seifer, Marc J (2001). Wizard: the life and times of Nikola Tesla : biography of a genius. Citadel. ISBN 0806519606. Retrieved February 21, 2011.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)

Other websites

• Nikola Tesla Museum
• Tesla's Wardenclyffe Science Center Plaque
• NikolaTesla.fr - More than 1,000 documents on Tesla