Nikola Tesla facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Nikola Tesla
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Tesla c. 1896
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| Born | July 10, 1856 Smiljan, Austrian Empire (modern-day Croatia)
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| Died | January 7, 1943 (aged 86) |
| Resting place | Nikola Tesla Museum Belgrade, Serbia |
| Citizenship | Austrian (1856–1891) American (1891–1943) |
| Education | Graz University of Technology (dropped out) |
| Engineering career | |
| Discipline | Electrical engineering Mechanical engineering |
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Nikola Tesla (born July 10, 1856 – died January 7, 1943) was a brilliant Serbian inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and physicist. He is most famous for helping to design the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system. He was born in Smiljan, a village in what is now Croatia. Later, he became an American citizen.
Tesla got his first job in Budapest in 1882, working for a telephone company. A few years later, he moved to the United States. His most important invention was an electric motor that worked very well with AC power. Tesla passed away from a blood clot in his heart in a hotel room in Manhattan, New York City, on January 7, 1943.
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Nikola Tesla's Early Life
Nikola Tesla was born into an ethnic Serb family in the small village of Smiljan, which was part of the Austrian Empire (now Croatia), on July 10, 1856. His father, Milutin Tesla, was an Eastern Orthodox priest, and his mother, Georgina "Đuka" Mandić, also came from a family of priests. Đuka was a very talented woman who could create amazing home tools and mechanical devices, and she had a remarkable memory for Serbian epic poems. Tesla often said that his own incredible memory and creative abilities came from his mother's influence and genes.
Nikola was the fourth of five children. In 1861, he started primary school in Smiljan, where he learned German, arithmetic, and religion. A year later, his family moved to the nearby town of Gospić, where his father became a parish priest. Nikola continued his primary and middle school education there. Even in his later patent applications, before he became an American citizen, Tesla proudly identified himself as being from "Smiljan, Lika, border country of Austria-Hungary."
Education: Sparking an Interest in Electricity
In 1870, Tesla moved to Karlovac to attend high school at the Higher Real Gymnasium. Classes were taught in German, which was common in schools within the Austro-Hungarian Military Frontier. It was here that Tesla's interest in electricity truly ignited. He was fascinated by his physics professor's demonstrations of electricity, describing them as "mysterious phenomena" that made him want "to know more of this wonderful force." He was so brilliant that he could perform complex math problems, like integral calculus, in his head! This sometimes made his teachers think he was cheating! He finished a four-year program in just three years, graduating in 1873.
After graduating, Tesla returned home to Smiljan but soon became very ill with cholera, a serious disease. He was bedridden for nine months and came close to death several times. During this difficult time, his father, who had initially hoped Nikola would become a priest, promised to send him to the best engineering school if he recovered. Tesla later shared that he read many books by Mark Twain while he was getting better.
The following year, to avoid joining the Austro-Hungarian Army, Tesla spent time exploring the mountains southeast of Lika. He felt that this connection with nature made him stronger, both physically and mentally. In 1875, he enrolled at the Imperial-Royal Technical College in Graz with a scholarship. He was an exceptional student, passing nearly twice as many exams as required and even receiving a letter of commendation from the dean, who called him "a star of first rank." At Graz, he was particularly captivated by Professor Jakob Pöschl's lectures on electricity.
Working with Electricity
Tesla worked in telephone and electrical engineering before moving to the United States in 1884. There, he worked for Thomas Edison. After Tesla and Edison had disagreements, Tesla found some investors. He then started working on his own. He set up laboratories and companies to create electrical devices.
His patented AC electric motor (called an induction motor) and transformer were very important. An American industrialist named George Westinghouse bought the rights to use these inventions. Westinghouse also hired Tesla for one year. Tesla helped him develop a power system using alternating current.
The big advantage of alternating current was using transformers. These allowed electricity to be sent over long distances. Tesla is also known for his high-voltage, high-frequency power experiments. He did these in New York and Colorado Springs, Colorado. Tesla also experimented with ideas used in the invention of radio communication. He even performed X-ray experiments.
Later years and death
Tesla was also a great showman. He demonstrated his amazing inventions, which seemed like miracles. Even though he made a lot of money from his patents, he spent much of it on his experiments. For most of his life, he lived in different hotels in New York City. After he spent his patent money, he had financial difficulties. He had to live in much simpler conditions.
Tesla continued to invite the press to parties on his birthday. At these events, he would announce new inventions he was working on. He would sometimes make unusual statements. Because of his grand announcements without proof, Tesla gained the reputation of a "mad scientist." He died in room 3327 of the New Yorker Hotel on January 7, 1943.
What were Nikola Tesla's inventions?
- AC induction motor: In 1887, Tesla developed a motor which used a "rotating magnetic field" to make things move without needing brushes that wore out quickly. This motor was simple, efficient, and became a cornerstone of the modern AC system. Westinghouse Electric, a company that saw the potential in Tesla's ideas, licensed his patents, and together, they helped bring AC power to the world.
- Harnessing of Niagara Falls: In 1893, a company planning to generate power from the mighty falls asked Tesla for his advice. He recommended a two-phase AC system, and based on his expertise and Westinghouse's demonstrations, AC was chosen. This was a monumental decision that proved AC could power entire cities and industries, marking a huge step forward in human progress.
- The Tesla coil: In 1891, Tesla patented one of his most iconic inventions. This amazing device is a special type of electrical circuit that can produce very high-voltage, high-frequency alternating current. Tesla used his coil to experiment with wireless lighting, trying to light up light bulbs from across a room without any wires! He also used it in his early investigations into X-rays and other high-frequency phenomena. Even today, Tesla coils are popular for educational demonstrations and entertainment, showing the incredible power of electricity.
- Radio Remote Control: In 1898, he publicly demonstrated a wirelessly controlled boat at an electrical exhibition in Madison Square Garden. Imagine controlling a boat with radio waves – it was like something out of a science fiction movie back then! He called this "telautomaton," and it was one of the first examples of remote control technology.
- Wireless Power Transmission (Wardenclyffe Tower): Tesla believed he could transmit electrical power and communication signals across vast distances through the Earth or the atmosphere. He started building a huge tower called Wardenclyffe on Long Island, New York, to achieve this dream. Unfortunately, he ran out of funding before he could complete it, and his vision of a "world wireless system" remained unfinished. However, his ideas laid the groundwork for many future wireless technologies.
- X-ray Experimentation: Even before Wilhelm Röntgen officially announced the discovery of X-rays in 1895, Tesla was already experimenting with "radiant energy" and noticed damaged photographic film in his lab. He developed special vacuum tubes and circuits, including his Tesla coil, to produce these invisible rays. He even captured an early X-ray image, though accidentally, of a camera lens. His work contributed to the understanding of these powerful rays, which are now essential in medicine and science.
- Bladeless Turbine: In 1906, he demonstrated a powerful bladeless turbine engine. Instead of blades, it used smooth discs that spun very quickly, making it efficient and simple. While it didn't replace traditional turbines for large-scale power generation, variations of his design found use in precision instruments like luxury car speedometers.
- VTOL Biplane Design: In 1928, he patented a design for a biplane capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL). This was a very advanced idea for its time, envisioning an aircraft that could lift straight up like a helicopter and then fly forward like a regular plane.
- "Teleforce" (Death Ray): In his later years, Tesla spoke about a defensive weapon he called "teleforce," often nicknamed a "death ray" by the press. He described it as a powerful beam of energy that could protect a country's borders from attacking aircraft or infantry. He never fully revealed how it worked during his lifetime, but it showed his continued interest in advanced technologies for defense.
Tesla's Legacy
Tesla's work was almost forgotten after his death. But since the 1990s, his reputation has grown. This is because his ideas have been used in many modern inventions. His work and reported inventions are also part of many conspiracy theories. They have also been used to support various pseudosciences, UFO theories, and New Age occultism.
In 1960, the General Conference on Weights and Measures honored Tesla. They named the SI unit measure for magnetic field strength "tesla."
Nikola Tesla Quotes
- “I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own.”
- “Life is and will ever remain an equation incapable of solution, but it contains certain known factors.”
- “We crave for new sensations but soon become indifferent to them. The wonders of yesterday are today common occurrences.”
- “The history of science shows that theories are perishable. With every new truth that is revealed, we get a better understanding of Nature and our conceptions and views are modified.”
- “Instinct is something which transcends knowledge.”
Interesting Facts About Nikola Tesla
- Nikola Tesla was born during a lightning storm.
- His father was a priest, but Nikola loved science, like his mother.
- Nikola developed ideas that are now used in smartphone technology.
- Tesla had a fantastic sense of humor.
- One of Tesla's famous friends was conservationist John Muir. Muir loved Tesla's idea of a hydroelectric power system. He liked it because it was a clean energy system.
- The first hydroelectric power plant, designed by Tesla, was built at Niagara Falls. It was used to power the city of Buffalo, New York.
- Tesla refused to speak to women if they were wearing pearls.
- Tesla was afraid of germs.
- He had a photographic memory and could imagine things in 3D.
- Some of Tesla's inventions are still secret.
Related Pages
Images for kids
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Tesla, aged 34, in 1890, photo by Napoleon Sarony
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Tesla's birthplace
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Nikola Tesla's father Milutin, Orthodox priest in the village of Smiljan
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Mark Twain in Tesla's South Fifth Avenue laboratory, 1894
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Tesla demonstrating wireless lighting by "electrostatic induction" during an 1891 lecture at Columbia College via two long Geissler tubes (similar to neon tubes) in his hands
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X-ray of a hand, taken by Tesla
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In 1898, Tesla demonstrated a radio-controlled boat which he hoped to sell as a guided torpedo to navies around the world.
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Nikola Tesla on the cover of Time in 1931
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A drawing of Tesla's Wardenclyffe Tower
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Nikola Tesla's laboratory in Colorado Springs
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Tesla sitting in front of a spiral coil used in his wireless power experiments at his East Houston St. laboratory
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Tesla's Colorado Springs laboratory
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Tesla's Wardenclyffe plant on Long Island in 1904. From this facility, Tesla hoped to demonstrate wireless transmission of electrical energy across the Atlantic.
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Tesla's bladeless turbine design
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Second banquet meeting of the Institute of Radio Engineers, April 23, 1915. Tesla is seen standing in the center.
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Newspaper representation of the thought camera Tesla described at his 1933 birthday party
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Gilded urn with Tesla's ashes, in his favorite geometrical object, a sphere (Nikola Tesla Museum, Belgrade)
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Tesla circa 1885
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Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade, Serbia
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Nikola Tesla Corner in New York City
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Nikola Tesla statue in Niagara Falls, Ontario
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See also
In Spanish: Nikola Tesla para niños
