Nikola Tesla was an engineer and inventor whose work on alternating current made large scale electric power distribution practical. He developed the induction motor and a complete polyphase alternating current power system, which he licensed to George Westinghouse and which won out over Thomas Edison direct current system in the so called War of the Currents, becoming the basis of electric power transmission worldwide. He also conducted early experiments in radio, wireless power transmission and high voltage phenomena, and held more than one hundred patents over his career.
Facts
NationalitySerbian American, born in the Austrian Empire and naturalized as a United States citizen in 1891 1 Connections
Associated With
In Field
Source Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical AgeW. Bernard Carlson
Invented
Source Electric Motor (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
Named among the scientists whose decades of earlier research into gas-discharge lighting the General Electric team led by George E. Inman drew on when it built the first working fluorescent lamp prototype in 1934.
Source Teleforce (Wikipedia)
Held Differently
Radio, Inventions Why this is disputed. Tesla's 1897-filed, 1900-granted tuned circuit patent predates Marconi's later United States tuning patent; the 1943 Supreme Court decision invalidated Marconi's key patent claims as anticipated chiefly by John Stone Stone and, to a lesser degree, Tesla and Oliver Lodge.
Source Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co. of America v. United States (1943)
Long-Form Articles
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age
W. Bernard Carlson, Princeton University Press, 2013
2. Nikola Tesla (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia Foundation- Wikipedia 'Nikola Tesla': born Smiljan, Austrian Empire; checked 2026-09-27
- Wikipedia 'Nikola Tesla': citizenship United States from 1891; checked 2026-09-27
- In Group: Power and Electrical Systems Engineers, lead paragraph: power generation, distribution or industrial electrification advance stated in own article
View the Source Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co. of America v. United States (1943)
Teleforce (Wikipedia)
Invented: Teleforce, Lead sectionQuote, Invented: Teleforce, Lead section
Teleforce is a defensive weapon proposed by Nikola Tesla that accelerated pellets or slugs of material to a high velocity inside a vacuum chamber via electrostatic repulsion and then fired them out of aimed nozzles at intended targets.
Electric Motor (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationInvented: Electric Motor, Article bodyQuote, Invented: Electric Motor, Article body
Possible industrial development was envisioned by Nikola Tesla, who invented independently his induction motor in 1887 and obtained a patent in May 1888.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Tesla's alternating current system win the War of the Currents?
His polyphase alternating current system, licensed to Westinghouse, made large scale power distribution practical and became the worldwide basis of transmission.
Tesla developed the induction motor and a complete polyphase alternating current power system, which he licensed to George Westinghouse. It won out over Thomas Edison's direct current system in the so called War of the Currents and became the basis of electric power transmission worldwide, which is why his work made large scale electric power distribution practical.
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