One of the most influential and revolutionary scientists of all time, Nikola Tesla made several inventions in the production, transmission and application of electric power that has changed and shaped the modern world of electricity for the better. Best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system, Much of Tesla’s work went underappreciated for years, but it seems like he is finally getting the credit that he rightly deserves. Tesla was a brilliant scientist and engineer and had revolutionary ideas, that many thought would be impossible to create. Tesla was also a man of mystery, and there are several stories of his oddities and strangeness. In this article, we will be looking at some of the fascinating and interesting facts you might have not known about this prolific inventor.
Unknown Facts About Nikola Tesla
- Tesla was born during a lightning storm
- Tesla’s first invention was a voice amplifier for the telephone receiver, which he made in 1881.
- Tesla thought of mobile phone technology and wireless internet way back in 1901. He had imagined transmission of messages wirelessly before anyone did.
- Nikola Tesla moved to the U.S. to work for Thomas Edison.
- Tesla was not so convinced by Edison’s idea of transporting electric current in the form of DC. So he invented AC which needed fewer support system and could be transmitted over to long distances. This started the long lasting rivalry between these two brilliant minds, with Tesla winning in the end, with AC becoming the industry standard for electricity.
- Tesla for his attitude and intellect was also known as “mad scientist.” He also tried to develop a particle gun, or death ray.
- Tesla suffered from many characteristics that today would likely be classified as obsessive-compulsive disorder. He was obsessed with the number three and detested jewelry, round objects, and touching hair.
- Tesla was also an insomniac and claimed he only needed two hours of sleep at night, though he often took afternoon naps.
- Tesla became obsessive about germs and cleaning everything, after suffering from a near-fatal case of cholera as a teenager. He had an extensive and rigid personal hygiene routine, used 18 napkins to wipe his dining room every night, and wore white gloves to every dinner.
- Tesla was gifted with an amazing memory, he had the power to memorize entire books and pictures with great detail, which is assumed to be part of the cause of his terrible nightmares as a child.
- One of Tesla’s most unique attributes was the ability to visualize in 3D, allowing him to see all sides of an invention before it was created.
- Tesla was focused more on humanity and his experiments than money, so he was never rich and died quite poor, despite his famous friends.
- Tesla died in 1943, but some of his inventions and experiments are still classified by the U.S. government. After his death, all of his possessions were sized by the Office of Alien Property and eventually released to his family, but a few select items are still behind lock and key.
- Tesla pioneered many significant modern inventions that we use today, he conducted pioneering work in electric light, electric motors, radio, x-ray, remote control, radar, wireless communications, and robotics, and created his famous transformer, the Tesla coil.
- Tesla’s electro-mechanical oscillator, a steam-powered electrical generator, which was developed as a possible replacement for inefficient steam engines used to turn generators nearly caused an earthquake in Manhattan. The oscillator set off vibrations that generated a resonance in several neighboring buildings, shaking the ground and prompting calls to police. When the machine began oscillating at the resonance frequency of his own building, Tesla surmised that he was in danger of creating an earthquake, and allegedly smashed the device with a sledgehammer.
- Tesla was very concerned about the fact that we were using up the Earth’s resources too quickly, and he wanted to make sure that we were using nonfossil, renewable fuels.
- One of the reasons for Tesla’s strange and odd behavior is due to the traumatic event he suffered back in his childhood. At the tender age of seven, he witnessed the death of his older brother Dane in a riding accident. Following the tragedy, Tesla began seeing visions of the air around him “filled with tongues of living flame.” As an adolescent Tesla learned to exercise his willpower to control the visions, but in later life he would spend much of his time feeding and, he claimed, mystically communicating with New York City’s pigeons
- After the formation of his own electric company, Tesla struggled to find backers to support his research into alternating current. Tesla then took up a job digging ditches for $2 a day to survive.
- Tesla’s invention ‘the Tesla coil’ is still used in radio technology today.
- Tesla’s inspiration behind his interest in electricity and related things was his mother Djuka Mandic, who invented small electrical appliance in her spare time while Nikola Tesla was still growing up.
- Tesla had the idea to develop an induction motor when he was working at the Central Telephone Exchange in Budapest.
- Edison started negative propaganda against Tesla with a press conference in an attempt to tamper peoples’ interest in alternating current.
- Tesla, to boost his brain power, performed toe exercises. He used to squish his toes, each 100 times every night, to stimulate his brain cells.
- Nikola Tesla died in Room 3327 of the New Yorker Hotel.
- Tesla had ambitions to illuminate the whole earth. He theorized that the gases in the Earth’s upper atmosphere could carry high-frequency electrical currents and hence “terrestrial night light” could be created with the transmission of electrical currents through these gases. However, his dream of “illuminating the whole earth artificially” yet remains to be realized.
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