Nikola Tesla (Serbian Cyrillic: ; 10 July 1856 7 January 1943) was a Serbian-Am ][4] inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical

cal engineer, physicist, and futurist best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating curren t (AC) electrical supply system.[5] Tesla started working in the telephony and electrical fields before emigrating t o the United States in 1884 to work for Thomas Edison. He soon struck out on his own with financial backers, setting up laboratories/companies to develop a rang e of electrical devices. His patented AC induction motor and transformer were li censed by George Westinghouse, who also hired Tesla as a consultant to help deve lop an alternating current system. Tesla is also known for his high-voltage, hig h-frequency power experiments in New York and Colorado Springs which included pa tented devices and theoretical work used in the invention of radio communication ,[6] for his X-ray experiments, and for his ill-fated attempt at intercontinenta l wireless transmission in his unfinished Wardenclyffe Tower project.[7] Tesla's achievements and his abilities as a showman demonstrating his seemingly miraculous inventions made him world-famous.[8] Although he made a great deal of money from his patents, he spent a lot on numerous experiments over the years. In the last few decades of his life, he ended up living in diminished circumstan ces as a recluse in Room 3327 of New Yorker Hotel, occasionally making unusual s tatements to the press.[9][10][11] Because of his pronouncements and the nature of his work over the years, Tesla gained a reputation in popular culture as the archetypal "mad scientist".[12][13] He died penniless and in debt on 7 January 1 943.[14][15][16][17] Tesla's work fell into relative obscurity after his death, but since the 1990s, his reputation has experienced a comeback in popular culture.[18] In 2005, he wa s listed amongst the top 100 nominees in the TV show The Greatest American, an o pen access popularity poll conducted by AOL and The Discovery Channel.[19] His w ork and reputed inventions are also at the center of many conspiracy theories an d have also been used to support various pseudosciences, UFO theories and New Ag e occultism. In 1960, in honor of Tesla, the General Conference on Weights and Measures for t he International System of Units dedicated the term "tesla" to the SI unit measu re for magnetic field strength.[20]