Nikola Tesla

“The progressive development of man is vitally dependent on invention. It is the most important product of his creative brain.” — Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla ate little and didn’t indulge in vices. Other than generosity and a glass of wine at dinner. For Nikola, life was about working on inventions. And to that, he would dedicate himself wholly.

Early Years

Born on July 10, 1856, during a violent lightning storm in the small village of Smiljan, in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire and today is Croatia, Nikola Tesla’s entrance into the world was as electrifying as the phenomena he would later come to master. According to family tales, the midwife anxiously expressed that the lightning was an ill sign. His mother responded, “No. He will shine with light.”

Nikola grew up in a household where intellect and creativity were deeply valued. His father was an erudite Orthodox priest, while his mother, though unschooled, was a brilliant woman with a remarkable memory and a talent for creating homemade craft tools. About her, Nikola would say,

“My mother was an inventor of the first order and would, I believe, have achieved great things had she not been so remote from modern life and its multifold opportunities. She…