Nikola Tesla (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Тесла; 10 July 1856 – 7 January 1943) was a Serbian American inventor and scientist, best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system. Tesla was born on 10 July 1856 in the village of Smiljan in the province of Lika within Vojna Krajina region in Austria, the area that later became the part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats & Slovenes, Yugoslavia and nowadays Croatia.
Nikola Tesla’s father Milutin was a Serbian Orthodox priest, a gifted writer and poet. In his library young Tesla spent countless hours. Nikola’s mother Djuka, in his own words was an inventor of the first order. Tesla himself inherited a mix of his parents’ characteristics. He was a poetic dreamer, highly intelligent, altruistic, and strongly self-disciplined with desire for invention.
Tesla studied physics and mathematics at the Polytechnic Institute in Graz, Austria in 1875, and at the University of Prague, in the Czech Republic. After studies and spending several years working in Hungary and France, Tesla migrated to America in 1884.
Without Nikola Tesla, many of the conveniences of modern life wouldn’t be possible. Tesla had over 300 patents worldwide, and his inventions helped pave the way for alternating current (AC), electric motors, radios, fluorescent lights, lasers, and remote control, among many other things.
Nikola Tesla is one of the giants of human intellect and the man whose research marked the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Tesla’s personality and scientific mind have become legendary thanks to his capacity to ingeniously solve most complex technical problems.
Tesla was renowned for his achievements and showmanship. His patents earned him a considerable amount of money, much of which was used to finance his own projects with varying degrees of success. Despite having sold his AC electricity patents, Tesla was impoverished and in debt when he died.
Tesla died on 7 January 1943. His work fell into relative obscurity after his death.
In 1952, Tesla’s entire estate was shipped to Belgrade, Serbia in 80 trunks marked N.T. where these are displayed in the Nikola Tesla Museum.
However in 1960, the General Conference on Weights and Measures named the SI unit of magnetic flux density the tesla in his honour.
There has been resurgence in popular interest in Tesla since the 1990s.
It is great to see this year that 160th anniversary of Nikola Tesla’s birthday are celebrated all over the world’ people of all ages, cultures, nationalities are recognizing Nikola Tesla’s contribution to modern society and their own lives. Tesla Forum is delighted to see such interest in Tesla’s legacy and recognition that Tesla certainly well deserves.
A few examples of the celebrations held today include the children’s function at the Serbian school Holy Trinity in Perth Western Australia, Tesla Electric Festival organized by Nikola Tesla Educational Corporation in Hamilton ON (Canada) with the ribbon-cutting of newly named Nikola Tesla Boulevard in Hamilton (on initiative by the NTEC, the City of Hamilton is recognizing July 10th as Nikola Tesla Day with the naming of Nikola Tesla Boulevard), new Nikola Tesla statue unveiled at the St Sava plateau in Belgrade, Tesla Day function at the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe (USA), Tesla Global Forum events in Fruska Gora mountain in Serbia, function at the Bonnyrigg Centre (NSW) and many others.
