Nikola Tesla was born on 10 July 1856 in the village of Smiljan in the Lika region of Croatia. He studied electrical engineering at Graz Technical University in Austria and worked for some time as an engineer in Budapest and Vienna.

He emigrated to the USA in 1884 and worked for some years in Edison's research institute in Menlo Park, New York, before setting up his own company. It has been said that Nicola Tesla, along with other inventors working for the Edison company, was overshadowed by Edison and did not enjoy the recognition he deserved. He was in dispute with the Edison managers because of patent issues. In 1891, Tesla invented a special transformer that made it possible to produce high-frequency alternating currents, which lead to substantial steps forward in the industrial world in a very short time. Tesla has often been called the father of alternating current (AC) while Edison is recognised for his work with direct current (DC). Tesla left over 700 registered patents when he died on 7 January 1943.

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