Nikola Tesla
Date: 25-04-1891
You might have heard of the name Tesla! Probably from the electric car manufacturer led by Elon Musk. But did you know, the name of this company is inspired by the inventor, electrical engineer and physicist Niko Tesla?
Born in Croatia, he moved to the United States and worked next to the famous inventor Thomas Edison at General Electric. Still one of the biggest companies in the world. There is a story that Edison and Tesla had an argument about the course that General Electric should take. Edison wanted to use Direct Current (DC) and Tesla firmly believed in the much cheaper and more efficient Alternating Current (AC). Because of the argument (and other reasons) Tesla left General Electric for a different company to work on his plans with Alternating Current. This was extremely successful and Edison had to concede that AC was the way to use electricity. Tesla had won "the battle of electricity".
You might have heard of the name Tesla! Probably from the electric car manufacturer led by Elon Musk. But did you know, the name of this company is inspired by the inventor, electrical engineer and physicist Niko Tesla?
Born in Croatia, he moved to the United States and worked next to the famous inventor Thomas Edison at General Electric. Still one of the biggest companies in the world. There is a story that Edison and Tesla had an argument about the course that General Electric should take. Edison wanted to use Direct Current (DC) and Tesla firmly believed in the much cheaper and more efficient Alternating Current (AC). Because of the argument (and other reasons) Tesla left General Electric for a different company to work on his plans with Alternating Current. This was extremely successful and Edison had to concede that AC was the way to use electricity. Tesla had won "the battle of electricity".
On April 25th, 1891, Nikola Tesla patented the "Tesla coil" and just a week later showed a working coil. With this coil it is possible to realize high voltage of alternating-current electricity combined with a high audible frequency.
This coil had many purposes and means of use. They were used in experiments with X-ray generation, electrotherapy or transmission of energy without wires. It was commercially used in radiotransmitters. Today the use of Tesla coils is usually for educational purposes and entertainment. Mostly build by hobbyists. Although small variations are still used as leak detectors for vacuum systems. Nikola Tesla would go down in history as one of the greatest electrical engineers the world has ever seen. Thanks to him to world has a stable electrical network, His biggest dream was free electricity for everyone! |
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Did you know?
Tesla, being a futurist, dreamed of coils as a means of wirelessly charging batteries! Something that is only nowadays becoming reality.
Tesla, being a futurist, dreamed of coils as a means of wirelessly charging batteries! Something that is only nowadays becoming reality.
Location:
Nikola Tesla was born in Smiljan, modern day Croatia.
Nikola Tesla was born in Smiljan, modern day Croatia.