Nikola Tesla, born in 1856 in the village of Smiljan, province of Lika (Austria- Hungary) was an eccentric but highly intelligent inventor. He created many of our modern day conveniences, including AC, alternating current (the basis of almost every electrical device), X-rays, flourescent lighting, the induction motor (which utilized his rotating magnetic field principle) and terrestial stationary waves, which he regarded as his most important discovery. By this discovery he proved that the earth could be used as a conductor and would be responsive as a tuning fork to electrical vibrations of a certain pitch.

At one time he was certain he had received signals from another planet in his Colorado laboratory, a claim that was met with derision in some scientific journals.

The Tesla coil, invented in 1891, is widely used today in radio and television sets and other electronic equipment for wireless communication. Tesla's radio patents predated those of the credited inventor, Gugleo Marconi.

Tesla's theories were met with criticism, especially after his claims that he could split the earth like an apple, and that he had invented a death ray capable of destroying 10,000 airplanes from 250 miles away. Due to lack of funds (perhaps because of his seemingly odd personality traits which included a progressive germ phobia) most of his ideas remained in his notebooks, which are still studied by engineers today.

Tesla died in New York City on January 7th, 1943, the holder of more than 3000 patents. Government agents seized and classified much of Tesla's recent paperwork for National Security. The Custodian of Alien Property impounded trunks containing his letters and laboratory notes. Eventually these were inherited by Tesla's nephew, Sava Kosanovich, and later installed in the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.