Nikola Tesla was born on 10 July (O.S. 28 June) 1856 to Serb parents in the village of Smiljan, Austrian Empire (modern-day Croatia). His father, Milutin Tesla, was a priest of the Serbian Orthodox Church.Tesla's mother, Đuka Tesla (née Mandić), whose father was also a Serbian Orthodox priest, had a talent for making home craft tools and for memorizing many Serbian epic poems, even though she had never learned how to read.Tesla's progenitors were from Western Serbia, near Montenegro.
Tesla was the fourth of five children. He had an older brother named
Dane and three sisters, Milka, Angelina and Marica. Dane was killed in a
horse-riding accident when Nikola was five.Some accounts say that Tesla caused the accident by frightening the horse.
In 1861, Tesla attended the "Lower" or "Primary" School in Smiljan,
Austrian Empire, where he studied German, arithmetic, and religion.
In 1862, the Tesla family moved to Gospić,
Austrian Empire, where Tesla's father worked as a pastor. Nikola
completed "Lower" or "Primary" School, followed by the "Lower Real
Gymnasium" or "Normal School".
In 1870, Tesla moved to Karlovac, Croatia, to attend school at Higher Real Gymnasium, where he was profoundly influenced by a math teacher, Martin Sekulić.Tesla was able to perform integral calculus in his head, which prompted his teachers to believe that he was cheating.He finished a four-year term in just three years, graduating in 1873.
In 1873, Tesla returned to his hometown, Smiljan. Shortly after he arrived, Tesla contracted cholera;
he was bedridden for nine months and was near death multiple times.
Tesla's father, in a moment of despair, promised to send him to the best
engineering school if he recovered from the illness (his father had originally wanted him to enter the priesthood).
In 1874, Tesla evaded being drafted into the army in Smiljan by running away to Tomingaj, near Gračac.
There, he explored the mountains in hunter's garb. Tesla claimed that
this contact with nature made him stronger, both physically and
mentally. He read many books while in Tomingaj, and later claimed that Mark Twain's works had helped him to miraculously recover from his earlier illness.
In 1882, Tesla began working for the Continental Edison Company in France, designing and making improvements to electrical equipment.
In June 1884, Tesla relocated to New York City.
During his trip across the Atlantic, his ticket, money, and some of his
luggage were stolen, and he was nearly thrown overboard after a mutiny
broke out on the ship. He arrived with only four cents in his pocket, a letter of recommendation, a few poems, and the remainder of his belongings.[citation needed]
In the letter of recommendation from Charles Batchelor, a former employer, to Thomas Edison,
it is claimed that Batchelor wrote, "I know two great men and you are
one of them; the other is this young man." (the exact contents of the
letter is disputed in McNichol's book). Edison hired Tesla to work for
his Edison Machine Works. Tesla's work for Edison began with
simple electrical engineering and quickly progressed to solving some of
the company's most difficult problems. Tesla was even offered the task
of completely redesigning the Edison Company's direct current generators.
In 1885, Tesla claimed that he could redesign Edison's inefficient
motor and generators, making an improvement in both service and economy.
According to Tesla, Edison remarked, "There's fifty thousand dollars in
it for you—if you can do it"—this
has been noted as an odd statement from an Edison whose company was
stingy with pay and who did not have that sort of cash on hand.
After months of work, Tesla fulfilled the task and inquired about
payment. Edison, claiming that he was only joking, replied, "Tesla, you
don't understand our American humor."
Instead, Edison offered a US$10 a week raise over Tesla's US$18 per
week salary; Tesla refused the offer and immediately resigned.
Tesla obtained around 300 patents worldwide for his inventions.
Some of Tesla's patents are not accounted for, and various sources have
discovered some that have laid hidden in patent archives. There are a
minimum of 278 patents issued to Tesla in 26 countries that have been accounted for. Many of Tesla's patents were in the United States, Britain, and Canada, but many other patents were approved in countries around the globe. Many inventions developed by Tesla were not put into patent protection.
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