Life
Picture of Nikola Tesla's Hometown. 1933. Nikola Tesla, www.matidavid.com/
pioneer_files/Tesla.htm.
Home Town
Nikola Tesla was born on July 10, 1856, in Smiljan, a village in current Croatia. His father was Milutin Tesla and his mother was Djuka Mandic. He was expected to become a Greek Orthodox clergyman, but he was more interested in math and science. He exelled in those areas as well,and It soon became clear that he would not become what his parents expected. He attended school at Polytechnic School at Graz for 4 years and then attended the University of Prague for 1 year.
Early Endevors
In 1881, Tesla began working at the Hungarian government's new central telegraph office. Although he only stayed there for 1 year, he invented a telephone aplifier. He also studied rotating magnetic fields after he was inspired and intrigued by one of his classes about this topic. He then moved to America, where most of the development in elecrical reasearch was. When he got there, he began working at the Edison Reaserch Library. He and Edison were always at each others necks after Tesla tried to inform Edison of his idea for a AC motor, and to convince him that it AC was better than DC. Edison rejected him and claimed that AC was a killer current. Nikola Tesla left after one year of working there.
The Fight Between AC and DC
In the 1880s and 1890, the battle between AC and DC raged. Nikola Tesla leaded the AC group, and Thomas Edison leading the DC group. Thomas Edison believed that AC was a killer current. Soon though, people began to see the benifits of AC, especially in long distance power transmission. With the help of George Westinghouse, AC was used in a power poject at Niagra Falls and a lightning project at the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition.