In 1898, Nikola Tesla wowed a crowd by controlling a boat with no visible connection

Nikola Tesla embraced showmanship when promoting ideas ahead of their time

He once electrified himself during a live demonstration to illustrate the safety and power of alternating current, and his presentations often featured arcing coils, glowing lights, and bold claims about a future of wireless power.

Guglielmo Marconi overshadowed Nikola Tesla through commercialization

Despite Tesla envisioning wireless power and communication earlier, Marconi developed practical implementations of wireless communication, including transmitting the first transatlantic radio signal. The technology, which facilitated telegraphy critical for warships and navies, earned Marconi the 1909 Nobel Prize in physics.

The disputed inventor of the radio

Guglielmo Marconi was awarded the 1909 Nobel Prize in physics for inventing the wireless telegraph, which used radio waves to transmit Morse code. Nikola Tesla, however, was experimenting with radio waves in the 1890s, though much of his work was destroyed in a 1895 fire.

Nikola Tesla's biggest dream was a worldwide network of wireless power transmission

He built the Wardenclyffe lab and a massive prototype transmission tower to develop trans-Atlantic transmission, but it was never operational. The concept was based on incorrect assumptions about Earth's conductivity, but it inspired subsequent efforts for wireless systems.

Despite promoting alternative current, Nikola Tesla did not invent it

The technology was developed by Hippolyte Pixii in 1832, almost 25 years before Tesla was born. Other myths about Tesla include that he invented the transformer, radio, and the induction coil, which was invented by Nicholas Callan in 1836.

Named after Nikola Tesla, who pioneered alternating current power systems, the Tesla coil was the first device to wirelessly transmit electricity.

J.P. Morgan provided Nikola Tesla with funding for the Wardenclyffe Tower

The structure was part of a project to transmit electricity and communication signals wirelessly across the globe. Shortly after construction began, Guglielmo Marconi beat Tesla to the punch and transmitted a trans-Atlantic signal, preventing Tesla from getting additional funding to finish his project.

Tesla's lack of business savvy and inability to commercialize led to his obscurity

For decades, despite pioneering technologies for large-scale electrical systems and telecommunications, Nikola Tesla had been forgotten to history. Rather than monetizing his work and becoming more well known, his inventor-first mentality saw him sell off lucrative patents to fund new experiments in the short term.

Watch a timeline of the history of electricity, from observations of static electricity in antiquity to the War of the Currents—a rivalry to establish the ideal system for electric grids.

Thomas Edison publicly executed animals with AC to convince the public of its dangers

J.P. Morgan first backed Thomas Edison's direct current system, seeing electricity's potential to usurp John D. Rockefeller's kerosene empire. Despite the investments and smear campaign against alternating current, alternating current ultimately won public support after lighting the 1893 World's Fair, after which Morgan would fund Tesla's wireless transmission tower.

Nikola Tesla's original laboratory was recognized as a historical site in 2018

Beginning in 1901, the Wardenclyffe Tower was built on Long Island, New York to transmit electrical power through Earth's atmosphere. The project was abandoned before becoming operational due to limited funding, and was demolished for scrap in 1917 to help pay off Tesla's debts.

Twain claimed to possess 'mental telegraphy'

In an 1891 essay, the writer claimed to possess psychic powers. It’s something that seemingly supported by his mother and his own death: Twain predicted he would die the day after Halley’s Comet returned in 1910, which did indeed happen.

Thomas Edison, eager to communicate with ghosts, tinkered with an apparatus called the 'spirit phone.'

No proof of Nikola Tesla developing a working 'death ray' exists

He described his "teleforce" weapon as generating beams of concentrated particles that could destroy targets from 250 miles away with unparalleled precision. Analysis of Tesla's papers on the subject by an expert after his death revealed the work to be mostly speculative.

Brain-computer interfaces create a direct link between the brain and external devices

The technology enables users to control prosthetics, computers, or even games using only their thoughts. In 2021, a monkey played table tennis using only its brain, thanks to a Neuralink device, marking a major milestone before human trials began in 2024.

Nikola Tesla was born in modern-day Croatia and moved to the US in 1884

His interest in electricity came from his mother, who invented small household appliances during Tesla's upbringing. Upon arriving in America, he began working for and improving upon the electrical inventions made in Thomas Edison's lab.

Before the invention of transistors, vacuum tubes made radio possible

Discovered by Thomas Edison, vacuum tubes allow electrical currents to travel through empty space. Later modified into a diode—keeping current flowing in only one direction—vacuum tubes allowed electronics to turn alternating current into direct current.

Tesla's alternating current power's most of the world's electric grids

In 1879, Thomas Edison’s light bulb relied on direct current, but such currents can't efficiently transmit power over long distances. Nikola Tesla introduced alternating current, which feature far fewer energy loses. Despite Edison’s attempts to discredit AC, Tesla proved its efficiency by lighting the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

Tesla's first successful AC prototype used a metal shoe polish tin for a rotor

After leaving his position working with Thomas Edison, Tesla partnered with George Westinghouse to promote alternating current systems as a more viable, scalable solution to electricity transmission.

The world's first AC hydroelectric power plant incorporated Tesla's engineering

Built at Niagara Falls, New York, the plant alternating current electricity was hailed as the future of power generation. Tesla's fascination with Niagara Falls is traced to his seeing a photo of the waterfalls when he was still a child.

Ray Bradbury said he was inspired to pursue writing after meeting a magician named Mr. Electrico, but scholars have never been able to confirm the story.

Niagara power helped electrify early New York City

Tesla's AC system at Niagara Falls was so successful that electricity generated there lit up Broadway theaters and powered NYC's subway system in the early 1900s.

19th-century Americans used technology to try to prove the existence of ghosts

In the 19th century, following technological advancements like the telegraph, phonograph, and others, efforts were made to capture proof of ghosts. These technologies seemed supernatural in their own right and emerged at the same time Spiritualism took off in the US, resulting in new approaches to connecting with the dead.

'Every day sees humanity more victorious in the struggle with space and time.'

- Radio inventor Guglielmo Marconi

A dispute about the origin of twitching frog legs led to the invention of the first battery

Experiments by Luigi Galvani on exposed frog leg nerves showed activity when they were hung from iron railings and brass hooks, suggesting the existence of "animal electricity" that discharged when connected to metals. Alessandro Volta's voltaic pile, which stacked metals with an inorganic electrolyte, showed that electricity originates from chemical reactions.

When Tesla died in 1943, the FBI seized his property for national security

Although Nikola Tesla had become increasingly eccentric in his later years, the US government wanted to ensure plans for a possible secret weapon didn’t fall into enemy hands during World War II.

Early 20th-century debates about horses with 'paranormal mathematical abilities' helped shape modern approaches to psychological research.

Watch a 1908 Wright Flyer demo with Wilbur and a passenger near Le Mans, France

One of the earliest filmed flights, this demonstration in France helped dispel doubts over the Wrights’ claims to powered, controlled flight. Such demos helped launch the pair to fame five years after their seminal flight in Kitty Hawk.

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

The Wright Flyer was an engineering breakthrough, and modern aircraft still use the same principles of flight.

Read about the nine depictions of Nikola Tesla in media through 2020

Portrayals include comedic takes, like John C. Reilly's performance in Comedy Central's "Drunk History" series, and more serious interpretations, like Nicholas Hoult's performance in Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s historical drama, "The Current War."

When a radio company was the biggest tech stock around

The Radio Corporation of America was the biggest stock during the 1920s. Originally called Marconi Wireless, the company transformed radio technology. The company pioneered broadcasting, created NBC, and became a tech giant. After remarkable growth and challenges, RCA was acquired by General Electric in 1986, marking the end of its 67-year independent existence.

A pair of engineers began Tesla to prove the viability of electric vehicles

Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning sought to design a high-end electric sports car for environmentally motivated, affluent buyers. The Tesla Roadster would be the first highway-legal car to use lithium-ion batteries.

Around 380 underwater cables power the Internet across the world.

On July 29, 1858, two steam-powered battleships met in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. There, they connected two ends of a 4,000 kilometer (2,500 mile) long, 1.5 centimeter (0.6 inch) wide cable, linking for the first time the European and North American continents by telegraph.

Niagara Falls helped decide the battle between AC and DC power

In the 1890s, Niagara Falls became the proving ground for alternating current (AC) when Tesla and Westinghouse built the first large-scale AC hydroelectric plant—defeating Edison’s push for direct current (DC) in the US electrical system.

Thomas Edison captured the only known footage of Mark Twain

The inventor was a pioneer in the early film industry and made his own motion pictures. In 1909, he shot a short film featuring Twain at Stormfield, his property in Connecticut. In it, Twain wears his iconic white suit and drinks tea with his daughters.

Radio waves are used in broadcasting, weather radar, telecommunications, and GPS

Its ability to bend around obstacles and reflect off the ionosphere—an electrified layer of Earth's upper atmosphere—allows this type of light to travel long distances without damaging living things due to its low energy. MRI scanners, WiFi, and Bluetooth technologies are also applications of this form of light.

Electromagnetic induction creates electricity from a changing magnetic field

The phenomenon was discovered in 1831 by Michael Faraday when an electric current was induced in a wire wrapped around an iron ring after a second wrapped wire not connected to the first was connected or disconnected from a battery.

Meet Clever Hans, the 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations and read German

When Clever Hans was prompted with math questions, he responded by tapping his hoof to indicate his answers. Even a panel of experts found no indication of trickery in the horse's demonstrations. However, psychology student Oskar Pfungst found that Hans stopped tapping once a subtle cue on his owner's face told him to stop. The cues were so subtle that Wilhelm von Osten didn't even know he was giving them.

Quantum tunneling allows particles to pass through classically impenetrable barriers

First described in 1928, the phenomenon is the result of probability waves, which represent the location of particles in space as extended objects. Just as sound waves can reflect off of and pass through barriers, these probability waves dictate that solid matter has a chance at passing through obstacles.

Contactless credit cards descend from a batteryless Cold War listening device

The same physics that let Soviet spies eavesdrop on the US ambassador in 1945 underlie contactless payment methods today. The device is a passive chip powered wirelessly by incoming radio waves.

There are at least 6 fascinating examples of mind-controlling parasites

Parasitic organisms—including flatworms and barnacles, not just fungi—can modify animal behavior. They can give rise to dancing fish, pulsating snails, suicidal rats, and more. Though some of these pathogens can sicken humans, there is no strong evidence that any can control human behavior.

Some founders of quantum mechanics thought consciousness could influence phenomena

Since quantum systems exist as a superposition of states before producing a definitive outcome, some quantum pioneers wondered if the act of conscious observation was what collapsed the wave function of possibilities into one state.

The Civil War introduced many technological advances to both society and warfare.

Alternating current was used to commit the first execution by electric chair

Dubbed the "executioner's current," the device was designed in Thomas Edison's lab by Harold Brown—an opponent of George Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla. The effort aimed at discrediting AC technology and gain favor for Thomas Edison's direct current as part of "The Current War."

Ingenuity and advanced engineering have allowed trains to overcome extreme landscapes

The Jungfrau Railway utilizes electric trains powered by hydroelectric energy to ascend the Swiss Alps, while Poland's Elbląg Canal hauls ships along cable-powered tracks driven by waterwheels. Germany's Wuppertal monorail navigates bends as it glides over a river valley, and New Mexico's Holloman High-Speed Test Track can achieve speeds of Mach 8.6 for rocket sleds.

Before transistors, which regulate the flow of electricity, vacuum tubes—glass tubes containing no gas that resemble light bulbs—served as the electronic switches in computers.

Elon Musk's Neuralink's N1 chip can wirelessly read brain signals from over 2,000 electrodes

The device is a battery-powered brain implant that transmits data via Bluetooth. Neuralink's near-term objectives for the device focus on unlocking new treatments for paralysis, neurological disorders, and some psychiatric conditions.

A quote by scientist Nikola Tesla

"The scientific man does not aim at an immediate result ... His duty is to lay the foundation for those who are to come, and point the way."

George Westinghouse purchased Tesla's AC technology patents for $60,000

The seven patents in alternating current motors and power transmission formed the basis for a system of technologies including generators, transformers, and lighting. Nikola Tesla spent half the funds on a new laboratory to develop new inventions.