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In 1884 Tesla arrived the United States with little more than the clothes on his back and a letter of introduction to famed inventor and business mogul Thomas Edison.
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After parting ways with Edison, in 1885 Tesla received funding for the Tesla Electric Light Company and was tasked by his investors to develop improved arc lighting.
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His luck changed in 1887, when he was able to find interest in his AC electrical system and funding for his new Tesla Electric Company. Setting straight to work, by the end of the year, Tesla had successfully filed several patents for AC-based inventions.
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Tesla's AC motor eventually caught the attention of American engineer George Westinghouse, Convinced that Tesla's inventions would help him achieve this, in 1888 he purchased his patents for $60,000 in cash and stock in the Westinghouse Corporation.
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His 1891 invention, the "Tesla coil," is still used in radio technology today.
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The Westinghouse Corporation was chosen to supply the lighting at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Tesla conducted demonstrations of his AC system here.
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Around 1900 Nikola set to work on his boldest project yet: to build a global, wireless communication system.
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With funding Tesla began work on the project in earnest, designing and building a lab with a power plant and a massive transmission tower.
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Thomas Edison continued to make great advances with his own radio technologies, Tesla had no choice but to abandon the project. The staff was laid off.
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The site had fallen into foreclosure.
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Tesla had to declare bancrupcy.
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Tesla died in New York City on January 7, 1943.
