Top 10 Facts about Nikola Tesla

Top 10 Facts about Nikola Tesla

By Unknown author – wikimedia

Nikola Tesla is known as the father of alternating current (AC), the foundation for much of the modern technology.

He was seen as a mysterious genius who came up with inventions that were before their time.

His fellow scientists are said to have taken his ideas and made money and a name out it, Nikola was not bothered.

Nikola was born on 10 July 1856, a fourth born to an Orthodox priest Milutin and Georgina. He had five siblings, Milka, Angelina, Danilo and Marija-Marica.

Although Nikola’s contribution to the science field went unrecognized for years modern day scientists and inventors pay tribute to him for setting a good foundation.

Throughout his life, Tesla registered more than 300 patents and envisioned many more inventions.

1. Nikola Tesla was born during a lightning storm

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Nikola was born on a stormy night in Serbia. The lightning storm was frightening and fierce. The midwife assisting his mother saw it as bad luck.

Nikola’s mother did not like it that the midwife considered her son a child of darkness, and so she said that her son will be a child of light. True to her words, Nikola lived to be one.

2. Nikola Tesla had visions and flashes of light that inspired his ideas

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Tesla was such a genius that would visualize inventions and objects he was working on in his head from start to finish of the product.

Unlike most of his counterparts, Tesla did not need to draw sketches of his idea on paper, but relied on his unfailing imagination and memory.

This began in his early childhood where after the flashes of light, he would have an excellent idea together with solutions to an existing problem.

Some believed that the visions and flashes were spiritual but Tesla being a man of science, believed none of it.

3. Nikola Tesla was seen as a mad scientist

Tesla had obsessions and fears that many considered to be strange and gave him the title, mad scientist.

Some of his obsessions were the number three; detested jewelry especially pearls, round objects, and touching hair.

He was known for avoiding women who wore pearl he would not talk to a woman who wore them. He sent his secretary back home for wearing them.

Tesla was an insomniac, and he would only sleep two hours at night. He loved to take naps in the afternoon, maybe to recharge.

He also counted his steps when walking, and calculated the volume of food before taking it, more like calculating calories.

4. Nikola Tesla pioneered  more modern invention beyond alternating current

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The mention of Tesla’s name is associated with alternating currents (AC). He referred to it as the war of currents.

But in 1901, Tesla is believed to have had the idea for a wireless way to gather information, code it, change the frequency, and have it transmitted to a mobile device.

This was probably his idea of a mobile phone, but it was shelved like many others.

Tesla also pioneered works in electric light, electric motors, radio, x-ray, remote control, radar, wireless communications, and robotics.

He created his famous transformer, the Tesla coil.  Other scientists took advantage of Tesla’s inventions by making minor improvements and taking the credit.

5. Nikola Tesla was afraid of germs and had other phobias

As a teenager, Tesla suffered from an almost fatal cholera infection. So once bitten, twice shy, Tesla exercised caution for the rest of his life.

Tesla would clean everything around him getting rid of germs. His personal hygiene was quite strict and a detailed process.

He would use 18 napkins to wipe his dining room every night, and wore white gloves to every dinner.

Tesla did not like the smell of camphor it made him uncomfortable. His obsession with number three made him divide everything in threes.

His hotel room was No. 3327 in the Hotel New Yorker, on the 33rd floor.

6. Nikola Tesla Had a Razor Sharp Memory

Photo by Ignacio F. on Unsplash

It is believed that after Tesla’s brother died, he trained himself to remember everything telepathically.

He could memorize an entire book, and could remember every tiny detail in the book such as illustrations and photos. This was however the cause of nightmares he had as a young child.

With such great memory, most of Tesla’s great inventions never saw the light of day because he never wrote down his ideas.

7. Nikola Tesla lived out of a suit case and had strict work ethics

After moving to America, Tesla spent most of his life living in hotel rooms. He stayed at the Waldorf Astoria, Hotel New Yorker.

He had a religious dining radition; he would arrive in an evening suit, at a precise time every evening, was escorted to his table by the chief waiter and had 18 napkins to wipe his tableware.

He ate his dinner at the same table at Delmonico’s in New York, and later at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel. He loved a glass of warm milk.

Tesla is also said to be very strict and disciplined in his work and followed a formidable schedule.

Tesla was more focused on inventions that would better humanity and therefore the influence of his wealthy and famous friends did not sway him off his course.

8. Nikola Tesla was suspected to be a German spy

Tesla was born in Serbia and later on in his life moved to America. While in New York, he built a 185-foot tower in Long Island, it was called the Wardenclyffe Tower.

He used the tower to further his experiment on wireless transmissions in the early 1900s. He believed that the tower had the power to tap electricity from the sky.

During World War I, the tower was destroyed by the U.S government on suspicions that it was being used by the Germans to transmit their radio signals.

Another theory explaining the destruction on the tower was that it was done to recover debt incurred by Tesla at the Waldorf Astoria. He had lived there for 20 years.

9. Nikola Tesla was fashionable and multilingual

Tesla had an eye for fine suits. He would dress up for dinner where he would eat alone. He always spotted a pair of White gloves.

He won the title, best dressed man of the Fifth Avenue in New York. Tesla also spoke more than eight languages.

In recognizing the contribution made by his inventions, 15 institutions around the world awarded Tesla with honorary degrees. The unit for magnetic induction was named Tesla in his honor.

10. Nikola Tesla believed in green energy

Tesla got concerned about the quick depletion of earth’s resources. He thought of an idea that would make use of renewable fuel from resources that would not run out such as wind instead to save earth.

He researched on ways that one can be able to harvest natural energy in the ground and from the sky.

He devised an artificial lightning in his lab, and studied its differences between tall buildings and the earth. Unfortunately the invention did not get funding.

Tesla died a poor man on 7 January 1943 aged 86, in his room at the Hotel New Yorker. He did not get married nor have children.

He was cremated and his ashes have been kept in the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade, Serbia.

Some of his inventions have been classified by the U.S government. Some of his personal possessions are still held by the Office of Alien Property.

Throughout his life, Tesla registered more than 300 patents and envisioned many more inventions.