ABOUT NIKOLA TESLA (1856 – 1943)

One of the greatest Serbian and world inventors and scientists was born into a Serbian Orthodox family in the village of Smiljan, on 10 of July 1856. Since an early age Nikola expressed all the brilliance of his mind, becoming the man who took his steps far ahead of his time. Tesla was aware that his education took a great toll on his parents so he left home to pursue work in Budapest and later France, where he made foundations of his future, world changing accomplishments.

Tesla took his longest step across the Atlantic in 1884 and settled in New York, were he was offered a job by Thomas Edison. Ethical differences with the latter served as an inspiration for making the mythical Tesla – Edison rivalry.

Nikola Tesla spent his time in America making great achievements in the field of physics, electro physics and radio engineering, carving the path for the modern world as we know today. He encountered some of the most notable people of that time, such is J. P. Morgan, George Westinghouse or celebrated writer Mark Twain, with whom he shared a pleasant friendship. Even though Tesla became a citizen of the world and a man of the future, he never forgot his roots.

Besides world often having a lack of understanding for his advanced projects, Tesla also suffered from financial problems that eventually caused many of his ideas and plans to remain unrealized. Ultimately, the life cycle of this genius was ended on 7th of January 1943. in the room  3327, on the 33 floor of Hotel New Yorker. After Tesla’s death his belongings were seized by the FBI as top secret.

Tesla’s major achievements, above everything else, consider the poliphase system, reverse magnetic field and the Tesla coil, transmission and modulation of the radio waves. Also he contributed gravely to the X-ray imaging. Tesla is the most notable for founding the alternate current system, which saw more efficient and easier transfer of the electric energy over great distances. Nikola Tesla was also the key figure in building the first major hydroelectric power plant in the world on Niagara Waterfalls in 1895. He was the only Serb that got his name in International System of Units – the unit for the magnetic flux density was named after him.

In July 1957, Tesla finally returned to his homeland. His urn was placed in the Nikola Tesla Museum in Vračar, where it remains today. He is remembered as the Prometheus and the inventor of the 20th century.