Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla was born in an ethnic Serb in the village of Smiljan in Croatia on July 10, 1856. He is known for his remarkable contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system. Today on Tesla 164th birth anniversary, the global science fraternity is remembering the futurist for the discoveries he made during his lifetime.

Born and raised in the Austrian Empire -- presently Croatia, Tesla enrolled at Austrian Polytechnic in Graz, Austria in 1875, but did not receive the required grades for the last semester of the third year and never graduated from the university. Following this, Tesla tried his luck to study at Charles-Ferdinand University in 1880 but arrived too late to enrol. Nikola Tesla's 163rd Birth Anniversary: 7 Beautiful Quotes by the Futurist Inventor on Science, Life And Inventions.

Initial Career:

In 1881, the Serbian-American inventor moved to Budapest in Hungary to work under Tivadar Puskás at a telegraph company. Within no time, Tesla was allocated the chief electrician position. Later in 1882, Tesla joined Continental Edison Company in Paris. In the firm, Tesla worked at the Société Electrique Edison, where he gained practical experience in electrical engineering.

Impressed with Tesla's work, the management gave him additional responsibilities to design and build improved versions of generating dynamos and motors. Continental Edison Company also sent Tesla to troubleshoot engineering problems at other Edison utilities in around France and in Germany.

Tesla emigrated to the United States in June 1884 to work for the Edison Machine Works, based in New York. He worked there for six months and then quit Thomas Edison's firm. Following this, Tesla was working on patenting an arc lighting system and soon managed to set up an arc lighting manufacturing and utility company, named Tesla Electric Light & Manufacturing.

Innovations, Patents and Awards:

Nikola Tesla obtained around 300 patents worldwide for his inventions, however, some of them are not accounted for. A minimum of 278 patents issued to Tesla in 26 countries that have been accounted for. Among the major innovations, for which Tesla got patents, include electric arc lamp (1886), regulator for dynamo electric machines (1886), electro magnetic motor (1888), commutator for dynamo electric machines (1888), thermo magnetic motor (1888), electro magnetic motor (1889), pyromagneto electric generator (1890), AC motor (1890), electrical meter (1891), coil for electro-magnets (1894), electrical conductor (1894), electric railway system (1894), steam engine (1894), electrical transformer (1897), fluid propulsion (1909, turbine (1909), speed indicator (1918), among others.

Apart from this, Tesla proposed and partially designed devices such as world wireless system and teleforce, but did not patent. Tesla also won numerous awards in his lifetime. Some of them include Elliott Cresson Medal (1894), Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Danilo I (1895), John Scott Medal (1934), Medal of the University of Paris (1937), among others. He died alone in Room 3327 of the New Yorker Hotel on January 7, 1943.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 10, 2020 08:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).