Nikola Tesla was born at midnight on July 9, 1856, in the village of Smiljan, in the province of Lika, Croatia—then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Tesla was the genius who ushered in the age of electrical power. He was a Serbian inventor, physicist, mechanical engineer and electrical engineer of profound genius. He is often regarded as one of the greatest scientists in the history of technology

Tesla had a vivid imagination and an intuitive way of developing scientific hypotheses. After seeing a demonstration of the "Gramme dynamo" (a machine that when operated in one direction is a generator, and when reversed is an electric motor), Tesla visualized a rotating Magnetic Field and developed plans for an induction motor applying the concept. This electric motor was the first step toward the successful application of alternating-current.

Arriving in New York City with four cents in his pocket, Tesla found employment with Thomas Edison in New Jersey. Differences in style between the two men soon lead to their separation. In 1885, George Westinghouse, founder of the Westinghouse Electric Company, bought patent rights to Tesla's system of alternating-current. The advantages of alternating-current over Edison's system of direct-current became apparent when Westinghouse successfully used Tesla's system to light the World Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893.

When Tesla became a United States citizen in 1891, he was at the peak of his creative powers. He developed in rapid succession the induction motor, new types of generators and transformers, a system of alternating-current power transmission, fluorescent lights, and a new type of steam turbine. He also became intrigued with wireless transmission of power.

"I have harnessed the cosmic rays and caused them to operate a motive device."- Nikola Tesla; Brooklyn Eagle, July 10, 1931.