Inventor Nikola Tesla was born
On this day · 10 July 1856
Born during a midnight thunderstorm on July 10, 1856, Tesla grew into the engineer who helped wire the world for alternating current.
On July 10, 1856, Nikola Tesla was born in the village of Smiljan, then in the Austrian Empire’s Military Frontier and now part of Croatia. According to lore preserved by the Tesla Science Center, he arrived at the stroke of midnight during an electrical storm — a fittingly theatrical entrance for a man who would spend his life mastering electricity.
Tesla emigrated to the United States in 1884 and became a central figure in the alternating current (AC) electrical system that powers most of the modern world. His induction motor and polyphase AC designs, licensed by George Westinghouse, won the so-called War of the Currents against Thomas Edison’s direct current.
He was born at the stroke of midnight on July 10, 1856, during an electrical storm.
His later work ranged from radio and wireless power to the rotating-field principle behind countless machines. Tesla died in 1943, his legacy outshining the obscurity of his final years.
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