Nicola Tesla

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electricity was truly astonishing.

So after being cheated by Edison, Tesla decided to put his energy into joining the electric revolution in the form of the research of alternating current "AC”. While he was searching for financial backers to support his vision of an AC powered world Tesla took up a job digging ditches for 2 dollars a day "50 dollar" in today’s currency to make ends meet. He described this period as very painful. Tesla eventually struck up a partnership with Westinghouse, this would put him in direct competition with Edison and his direct current "DC system” backed by General Electric. Edison’s DC system created dangerous sparks, couldn’t transmit electricity very far, require power plan every few kilometers with cables as thick as the arm. In other words, it was a pretty terribly solution to power every home on this planet.

Tesla’s AC system on the other hand, used thinner wires, had higher voltages and could transmit electricity over long distances. The fight was on and the prize for the winner was the privilege of lighting up the entire world. By 1893 there been many shady business deals, stolen ideas and patent suppression that Edison and his moneyed interests wielded over Tesla’s inventions.

The feud had reached boiling point and with this the war of the currents had reached its peak. Deep down, Edison knew that his system was inferior to Tesla’s. But of course he didn’t want the public to know this. He needed a way to make the public despise AC and accept DC. Families living around Edison’s laboratory began to notice something a little strange, their pets suddenly began to disappear. These mysterious disappearances weren’t the work of aliens but a group of schoolboys, paid 0.25$ for each animal that they stole. This was Edison solution. Once Edison gather the cats, dogs and other animals from the schoolboys. He publicly electrocuted them using Tesla’s AC current to prove that it was dangerous, too dangerous be used in any home. In addition to this, Edison aided in the creation of the electric chair. Making sure that it used AC current. Tesla responded to all of this by demonstrating that AC was perfectly safe by famously shooting electric current through his own body to produce light at 1893 world fair. This was checkmate to Edison and a symbolic turning point.

As the years went on, AC increased in popularity and became the standard due to its technical advantages. As a result of his inventions, Tesla was shot into the stratosphere of stardom. Rubbing shoulders with the most important people of the day. He was universally loved by citizens because he helped making their life easier. From arriving with fust 4 cents in his pocket to now having unprecedented fame. Things have certainly changed for Tesla, and his brilliant and hard work had paid off in. Meanwhile, Edison became more and more despised by others within General Electric and eventually lost control of the company after a series of mergers.

Despite of all of that, Edison did invent the phonograph and motion picture camera. So he also has contributed greatly to society. During the war of the current, Tesla designed AC motors, generators, transformers and power transmission technologies resulting in 25 of the most valuable patents since the invention of the telephone. This designs were so good that we still use them today in all the systems that power our homes, a fact which we take for granted. This in itself was an incredible achievement by Tesla but he was just getting started. Over the next few years, Tesla would invent a few foundational technologies that drove the 20th century and still hold relevance today.