Biography of Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla

Early life

Nikola Tesla was born on 10 July 1856 in a village Smiljan, Lika in Croatia, in the Australian Empire. His father was Milutin Tesla and his mother was Duka Tesla. He told that his mother was his biggest mentor and gave all credits of success to his mother.

His father wanted to see his child as a priest. But from a very young age, Tesla developed his interest in science. In his home, there was a very small library set up by his father. He studied in the library for long hours. Once Tesla was suffering from Cholera in a very serious condition and was near to death. His father promised him that if he recovered from the illness he supported him in his study in the best engineering college.

His brother Dane Tesla was also very intelligent like him but he was killed in a horse-riding accident. He told in his autobiography that after the death of his brother, he used to see a lot of nightmares by which he felt very depressed. But day by day he was able to control his mind.

In 1874, he used to run away from the Austro-Hungarian Arm to avoid conscription law. He went away on the mountain to escape from the Army. He also said that the contact of him with nature made him stronger physically as well as mentally. He read a lot of books in Tomingaj. If he saw jewelry or camphor then he ran away and sometimes suffered from fever. These were some strange facts about Tesla.

Education

He completed his primary education and middle education from his town. In 1975, he registered himself in the Austrian Polytechnic in Graz, Austria, on a Military Frontier scholarship. He was a very brilliant student in his college. He never missed a single lecture and scored the highest grade in the college. in the third year of his college, he was even expelled by his college because his hard work was out of level. His professor told that if he was not expelled his brain burst due to overstudies. He even told to his professor that there is no requirement of the commutator in generators. He conflicted with his professor over Gramme dynamo.

He did not receive grades for his last semester and even did not receive the degree of graduation from his University.

As an adult

In 1878, he moved to Maribor and worked as a draftsman for 60 Florins per month.

In 1879, his father went to Maribor to take his son but he refused. Actually, there was some difference between him and his father due to different thinking. At that time he was suffered from a nervous breakdown.

In 1881, he moved to Budapest and worked in a telegraph company, the Budapest Telephone Exchange.

Meeting with Thomas Edition

In 1881, he moved to the United States with no money and very few clothes. He met Thomas Edition whose DC-based electrical works were fast becoming the standard in the Country.

Tesla then started doing work with Edition offered a bonus of $50,000 to improve his generator and Tesla did it but it turned out to be a practical joke. Tesla was annoyed by his and resigned from Edition's company.

Introduced Alternating current

After resigning from Edition's company no one agreed to give him work because Edition had a very big name at that time. Finally, in 1885, Tesla received funding for the Tesla Electric light company. At starting he was not able to innovate his ideas.

But after two years later investors started to show their interest in Tesla Electric company. As his idea of a new type of alternating current motors and electric equipment was very unique. Because everyone knew about alternating current.

Development of Induction Motor

In 1887, Tesla got his biggest achievement by developing an Induction motor that ran on Alternating current.

He formed a system in which there was an advantage of long-distance and high voltage transmission service. His idea was expanding very rapidly in Europe and the United States.

The intensity of the Alternating current is very high that's why he developed a transformer to control intensity.

George Westinghouse offered to Tesla's polyphase induction motor and transformer designs for $60,000 in cash and stock and a royalty of $2.50 per AC horsepower produced by each motor.

Westinghouse hired Tesla for one year on a large fee of $2000 per month. But later Westinghouse was financially drained and Tesla was again suffering from the financial crisis.

A war between AC and DC

Edition launched his propaganda to down AC. He started doing electrocuting to animals. The first electrocution was very dangerous than hanging which was in 1890.

In 1889 and 1890 Tesla designed the Tesla coil and wireless transmission through AC. He was working on this project from the past to conduct electricity long distances through the Earth.

In 1893, the Westinghouse corporation had to supply the lighting at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and Tesla supplied AC here.

Inventions 

In 1895, Tesla designed the first AC hydroelectric power plants in Niagara fall in the United States.

In 1890, he invented "Tesla coil," which laid the foundation for wireless technologies and is still used in radio technology.

Death 

Tesla's unpaid bills and complaints about the mess from his pigeon-feeding forced him to leave the St.Regis in 1923, the Hotel Pennsylvania in 1930, and the Hotel Governor Clinton in 1934.

In 1934, he moved to the Hotel New Yorker and Westinghouse Electric and manufacturing company pay all his rents and paid him $125 per month. They handled all the expenses of Tesla and they paid for the rest of his life.

He died in January 1943, at the age of 83, in New York City. He lived in the Hotel New Yorker for complete 10 years. He found dead in his room and dead by suffering from a nervous breakdown.

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