Tesla was very fond of reading books and was well versed in eight languages. After completing his studies, Tesla worked in many places and devoted his knowledge and expertise towards new inventions. He also worked with scientist Thomas Edison who challenged him to improve the functioning of his generator and motor.
Edison allegedly promised to give him several thousand dollars for this. But when Tesla fulfilled this challenge, Edison reneged on his promise which forced Tesla to quit his job from there. Edison considered direct current DC better, which worked on volts of power but was difficult to convert to other voltages. Tesla believed that alternating current AC was better because it could be easily carried from one place to another. It was Tesla who perfected the alternating current transmission technology.
Expert Tips Did You Know? Happy Birthday, Prev Post Next Post. By Mister Sparky. Did You Know? Having become obsessed with the wireless transmission of energy, around Tesla set to work on his boldest project yet: to build a global, wireless communication system — to be transmitted through a large electrical tower — for sharing information and providing free energy throughout the world. With funding from a group of investors that included financial giant J.
Morgan , in Tesla began work on the free energy project in earnest, designing and building a lab with a power plant and a massive transmission tower on a site on Long Island, New York, that became known as Wardenclyffe. However, doubts arose among his investors about the plausibility of Tesla's system. As his rival, Guglielmo Marconi — with the financial support of Andrew Carnegie and Thomas Edison — continued to make great advances with his own radio technologies, Tesla had no choice but to abandon the project.
The Wardenclyffe staff was laid off in , and by the site had fallen into foreclosure. Two years later Tesla declared bankruptcy and the tower was dismantled and sold for scrap to help pay the debts he had accrued.
After suffering a nervous breakdown following the closure of his free energy project, Tesla eventually returned to work, primarily as a consultant. But as time went on, his ideas became progressively more outlandish and impractical. He grew increasingly eccentric, devoting much of his time to the care of wild pigeons in the parks of New York City. Poor and reclusive, Tesla died of coronary thrombosis on January 7, , at the age of 86 in New York City, where he had lived for nearly 60 years.
However, the legacy of the work Tesla left behind him lives on to this day. In , a street sign identifying "Nikola Tesla Corner" was installed near the site of his former New York City laboratory, at the intersection of 40th Street and 6th Avenue. In , a group of engineers founded Tesla Motors , a car company named after Tesla dedicated to building the first fully electric-powered car.
In , Tesla unveiled its first electric car, the Roadster. A high-performance sports vehicle, the Roadster helped changed the perception of what electric cars could be. In , Tesla launched the Model S, a lower-priced model that, in , set the Motor Trend world record for 0 to 60 miles per hour acceleration at 2. Since Tesla's original forfeiture of his free energy project, ownership of the Wardenclyffe property has passed through numerous hands. Several attempts have been made to preserve it, but in , and efforts to have it declared a national historic site failed.
Then, in , a group called the Tesla Science Center TSC was formed with the intention of purchasing the property and turning it into a museum dedicated to the inventor's work. In , public interest in the project peaked when Matthew Inman of TheOatmeal. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives.
0コメント