Biography

Nikola Tesla was born on July 10, 1856, in Smiljan, in the Austrian Empire. The future inventor graduated
from primary school in Gospic. Then he entered gymnasium and completed his studies in 1870.

In 1875, Tesla became a student at the Graz Technical School, where he began to study electrical
engineering. In January 1880 he became a student at the University of Prague. But lack of money made
him give up his dream of getting a higher education and Tesla went in search of work.

In the summer of 1884, Tesla came to the United States and got a job at T. Edison's company. In 1885 he
offered Tesla a $ 50,000 deal. The subject of the deal was the constructive improvement of DC electric
machines, which were invented by Edison himself.

Soon, twenty-four varieties of Edison's car were presented to Edison. The improvements were approved
by the customer, but he refused to pay. When Tesla was outraged, Edison noticed that he still did not
understand national humor very well. The enraged inventor resigned immediately.

Now we gonna say some words about his famous inventions

1. Alternating current

One of Tesla's greatest accomplishments was finding practical uses for alternating current.

The inventor designed a multiphase electric motor using the properties of current to create the effect of
a rotating magnetic field that drives the device into rotational motion. The drive was more efficient than
the DC motors used until now, with a much lower failure rate.

The alternating current itself allowed energy to be transmitted over long distances, due to the possibility
of easily raising the voltage using transformers, which led to less losses resulting from the resistance of
electrical wires.

2. Resonant transformer

Nikola Tesla is often called “the ruler of thunderous strikes”. This Serbian inventor's nickname goes back
to one of his greatest inventions, the resonant transformer introduced in 1891, also called the Tesla coil.

This is a type of air transformer in which both windings operate at the same high resonant frequency.
This allows very high electrical voltages to be produced, even in millions of volts. As a result, the device
can generate extremely effective electrical discharges.

Tesla coils are a frequent topic for hobbyist electronics enthusiasts these days. With the advent of
semiconductors, they also received another "entertainment" function - the alternating current in the
coil circuit can be modulated by the acoustic frequency, as a result of which the sounds generated by
the discharges can create music.

3. Wireless transmission of electricity

The resonant transformer not only generates impressive electromagnetic discharges, but also a strong
alternating electromagnetic field. In the course of his experiments, Nikola Tesla used them to transmit
electricity over short distances. He delighted the audience by lighting incandescent lamps in the
network, and glass tubes filled with rare noble gases glowed near the transformer.

4. Radio engineering and remote control

In 1898 he received a patent for a remote-controlled boat model. In the same year, the inventor
delighted the audience in New York, presenting a prototype of the device. The boat swam in a small
pool, twisted, accelerated and slowed down at the request of the inventor, this was expressed by the
movements of the lever on the transmitter table.

Tesla's presentation opened up new possibilities in the field of technology called telemechanics and
remote control of devices. Naturally, the army became interested in the invention, seeing the great
military potential - experiments began on remote-controlled torpedoes or aircraft.

5. X-rays

Few people realize that Nikola Tesla was one of the pioneers of radiology. Experimenting with Crookes
tubes connected to a high voltage source, he observed penetrating radiation invisible to the human eye.

These experiments were carried out independently of similar attempts by the German physicist Wilhelm
Roentgen, widely known as the discoverer of X-rays, a type of high-energy electromagnetic radiation.

In the years following the publication of Roentgen's work, Tesla continued his work in this field,
becoming one of the pioneers of X-ray photography.

End of life.

In the fall of 1937, 81-year-old Tesla left the New Yorker in New York to feed the pigeons outside the
cathedral and library as usual. Crossing the street a couple of blocks from the hotel, Tesla could not
dodge a moving taxi and fell, receiving a back injury and fracture of three ribs. Tesla refused the services
of a doctor, which he followed before, and so did not fully recover. The incident caused acute
pneumonia, which turned into a chronic form. Tesla's nephew Sava Kosanovich visited him on January 5
and made an appointment. He was the last person to communicate with Tesla. Nikola Tesla died in the
room he occupied at the New Yorker on the night of January 7-8, 1943, at the age of 87. On January 12,
the body was cremated, and the urn with the ashes was installed at Ferncliffe Cemetery in New York. In
1957 it was moved to the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade.