Tesla studied electrical engineering at the Austrian Polytechnic in Graz, Austria. In 1881, he moved to Budapest and was employed by the American Telephone Company as their chief electrician. He suffered a nervous breakdown and moved to Paris in 1882, where he worked for the Continental Edison Co. In 1884, Tesla moved to New York and began work for Thomas Edison at the Edison Co., however, he resigned in 1885 after a dispute with Edison. The animosity generated by this would continue throughout both of their careers. In 1886, he set up his own company, Tesla Electric Light & Manufacturing, but was eventually pushed out by investors. Tesla took odd jobs in order to eat and to raise the necessary capital to continue his work. In 1887, he developed the alternate-current induction motor which was demonstrated to the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in 1888 and raised awareness of Tesla's inventive mind. Thereafter, he worked for Westinghouse in Pittsburgh before again setting up his own company, Houston Street Laboratory, in New York. The lab was destroyed by fire in 1895 and much of his research was lost. The list of Tesla's inventions and patents is endless and include the Tesla Coil, remote control and wireless operation, rotary magnetic fields, ignition systems, lasers, turbines, radio and radar, etc. He became a U.S. citizen in 1891. On his death in 1943, most of his papers on current research were seized by the government and declared to be top secret. |
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