Nicola Tesla was born on July 10, 1856 in a small Croatian town. It’s said that he was born on or around midnight during a lightening storm. While we can neither confirm nor deny this, Tesla was without a doubt the father of electricity as we know it.

Though Thomas Edison is most often credited with discovering electricity, it was Tesla who discovered the alternating current (AC). Edison’s direct current (DC) proved too costly and difficult to control. Tesla’s AC current would become the standard by which the world would soon be illuminated.

Tesla moved to New York in 1884. At the time, he was already a well-known and respected physicist and electrical engineer, working for the Continental Edison Company in Paris.

Soon after beginning to work directly with Edison, it became apparent that these two great minds clashed too often to be able to form a lasting collaboration. They parted on acrimonious terms.

After breaking ties with Edison, Tesla started working with George Westinghouse. It was at that point that Tesla devised the AC current.

The brilliance of AC power was first implemented on a large scale at the World Colombian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. As the expo grounds and buildings blazed with light for the first time, the efficiency and effectiveness of AC power dazzled all. Case closed. AC power was the way of the future.

While living near Colorado Springs (1899-1900), Tesla demonstrated the wireless transmission of electrical power and even created man-made lightening using scalar energy. Though it caused an uproar in the town, his experiments proved that scalar energy was a powerful force that could be harnessed for the good of the world.

Existing electric companies certainly did not appreciate Tesla’s efforts to provide free electricity to all. Still, he continued experimenting with electricity and energy for the rest of his life.

Tesla was known as a bit of an eccentric, never marrying or showing any interest in anything besides his work. His life was dedicated wholly to studying the energies he found so fascinating.

By all accounts Tesla was a great visionary and prolific inventor. At the time of his death in 1943, he held over 700 patents.