Nikola Tesla

Born: 1856-07-10

Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and futurist best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system. Born and raised in the Austrian Empire, Tesla studied engineering and physics in the 1870s without receiving a degree, gaining practical experience in the early 1880s working in telephony and at Continental Edison in the new electric power industry. In 1884 he emigrated to the United States, where he became a naturalized citizen. He worked for a short time at the Edison Machine Works in New York City before he struck out on his own. With the help of partners to finance and market his ideas, Tesla set up laboratories and companies in New York to develop a range of electrical and mechanical devices. His alternating current (AC) induction motor and related polyphase AC patents, licensed by Westinghouse Electric in 1888, earned him a considerable amount of money and became the cornerstone of the polyphase system which that company eventually marketed.


Placeholder

Tesla

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2016-10-18

Meet Nikola Tesla, the genius engineer and tireless inventor whose technology revolutionized the...

Movie page

Tesla: Master of Lightning

as Himself
Released: 2000-12-01

This program recounts the life of scientist, inventor, and visionary Nikola Tesla, often...

Movie page

The UnXplained

as archivefootage
First aired: 2019-07-19

Explore the world’s most fascinating, strange and inexplicable mysteries. Each episode features...

TV Show page