Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla was born in 1856 in Smiljan, then part of the Austrian Empire (modern-day Croatia). A prodigious student with a photographic memory, he could perform integral calculus in his head, causing his teachers to suspect him of cheating. He studied engineering in Graz and Prague before working for the Continental Edison Company in Paris.

In 1884 Tesla immigrated to the United States and briefly worked for Thomas Edison, who dismissed his ideas about alternating current (AC) power. Tesla then partnered with George Westinghouse to develop AC electricity, which won the 'War of Currents' against Edison's direct current (DC) system and became the global standard for electrical power distribution.

Tesla's achievements are staggering: he developed the rotating magnetic field (the basis of AC motors), designed the first hydroelectric power plant at Niagara Falls, and invented radio (a patent dispute with Marconi was resolved in Tesla's favor by the US Supreme Court in 1943). He held over 300 patents across dozens of countries.

Tesla spent his final years in poverty in a New York hotel, his eccentric behavior and grand visions for wireless power transmission alienating investors. He died alone in 1943. In recent decades his reputation has been rehabilitated dramatically -his name now graces the world's most valuable electric car company, and he is widely celebrated as one of history's greatest inventors.