The DU Lounge
Related: Culture Forums, Support Forums12 Interesting Facts About Nikola Tesla You Probably Didn't Know
Born in a lightning storm
Some of his inventions still classified
Loved to nurse injured pigeons back to health
Was a germaphobe
Others at:
https://www.vintag.es/2019/07/nikola-tesla-facts.html
brush
(53,782 posts)First Speaker
(4,858 posts)...like he did in *The Prestige*. But I'm not sure... ...I am pretty sure he was responsible for the Tunguska Incident in 1908. Or, if he wasn't, he should have been...
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)He was born in what was the Austrian Empire at the time, which is now modern day Croatia, however his parents were ethnic Serbs (article says he was born during a a fierce lightning storm in Serbia).
Here is another interesting tidbit:
"On 7 January 1943, at the age of 86, Tesla died alone in Room 3327 of the New Yorker Hotel. His body was later found by maid Alice Monaghan after she had entered Tesla's room, ignoring the "do not disturb" sign that Tesla had placed on his door two days earlier. Assistant medical examiner H.W. Wembley examined the body and ruled that the cause of death had been coronary thrombosis.
Two days later the Federal Bureau of Investigation ordered the Alien Property Custodian to seize Tesla's belongings. John G. Trump, (yes, THAT John G. Trump) a professor at M.I.T. and a well-known electrical engineer serving as a technical aide to the National Defense Research Committee, was called in to analyze the Tesla items, which were being held in custody. After a three-day investigation, Trump's report concluded that there was nothing which would constitute a hazard in unfriendly hands, stating:
[Tesla's] thoughts and efforts during at least the past 15 years were primarily of a speculative, philosophical, and somewhat promotional character often concerned with the production and wireless transmission of power; but did not include new, sound, workable principles or methods for realizing such results."
There is also a statue of him at the train station in Rahway, NJ. I had a pic of it on my phone, but can't find it now. Here is a link about the statue: https://www.rahwayrising.com/nikola-tesla-on-display-at-train-station-plaza/
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)ProudLib72
(17,984 posts)Tesla was just a little on the wild side in comparison.
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)He experienced frequent hallucinations and thought he was talking to aliens on mars. He also had many other delusions and had extreme OCD. So while others may have been more mentally ill, theres no question Tesla was. Theres a good reason why he died pretty much penniless.