Key Figures
This famous inventor hired Tesla but later refused to pay him $50,000 for improving his DC system.
Thomas Edison
Tesla used a special coil to develop these early types of lights, different from Edison's incandescent bulbs.
neon and fluorescent lights
The modern-day country where Tesla was born in 1856.
Croatia
The abbreviation for Direct Current, championed by Edison.
D.C.
Invited a group of people to his New York City lab to witness electrifying experiments, sitting calmly while sparks flew.
Nikola Tesla
This wealthy businessman bought Tesla's AC patents and partnered with him to build power stations, including at Niagara Falls.
George Westinghouse
Tesla dreamed of a world connected wirelessly and began building this structure on Long Island to achieve it.
What is the Great Tower (or Wardenclyffe Tower)?
Tesla arrived in this country in 1884, hoping to work with Edison.
United States (or America)
The abbreviation for Alternating Current, championed by Tesla.
What is A.C.?
Refused to pay Tesla $50,000 for improving the DC system, claiming the offer was an "American joke."
Thomas Edison
This inventor used many of Tesla's ideas to send a radio signal across the Atlantic and initially received credit for inventing radio.
Guglielmo Marconi
Legal documents protecting inventions, Westinghouse bought Tesla's for AC power.
patents
Tesla and Westinghouse showcased AC power by brilliantly illuminating this 1893 event in Chicago.
World's Fair (or Chicago World's Fair)
Edison argued DC was safer, while Tesla showed AC could be transmitted more ___________ over long distances.
What is efficiently?
Became Tesla's major backer, bought his AC patents, and won the contract to light the 1893 Chicago World's Fair using Tesla's system.
George Westinghouse
Tesla's love of inventing came from this family member who built small household appliances.
Tesla's mother
Tesla demonstrated the first remote-controlled one of these in 1898.
a robot (or remote-controlled boat)
After quitting Edison's company, Tesla was forced to take this low-paying job for a time.
digging ditches
DC power flowed at a constant high level of this, making it potentially dangerous.
What is voltage?
Sent a radio signal across the Atlantic Ocean in 1901 using many of Tesla's ideas, becoming a huge star.
Guglielmo Marconi
A group of these people approached Tesla to invent a more efficient lightbulb after hearing about his work.
investors
Besides electricity, Tesla's experiments pointed the way to future technologies like robots, radio, radar, and these medical imaging tools.
What are X-rays?
Tesla died at age 86 with very little of this.
money (he died penniless)
This advantage of AC allows its voltage to be easily changed using transformers for long-distance travel.
it moves back and forth (or changes direction/alternates)
Finally credited Tesla with the invention of radio in 1943, settling the long-standing dispute with Marconi. It is the name of a Court.
U.S. Supreme Court