Topics in Chronicling America - Nikola Tesla

Jump to: Sample Articles

Important Dates:

• 1883: Tesla came to the United States and began working at Edison’s lab.
• 1886: He formed Tesla Electric Light & Manufacturing.
• 1888: Tesla invented the first usable Alternating Current motor.
• 1893: Demonstration of alternating current generators at the Chicago World’s Fair, lighting thousands of incandescent light bulbs.
• 1896: The first Niagara Falls hydroelectric plant opened, which Tesla designed to harness the energy of the Falls and convert it to electricity.
• 1898: Demonstration of Tesla’s remote controlled boat in New York, the first remote control device.
• 1902: Construction on Wardenclyffe, Tesla’s laboratory facility is completed.
• 1915: Tesla’s financial problems caused him to lose the lease on Wardenclyffe. It is eventually used for scraps during World War I.

Suggested Search Strategies:

• [Try the following terms in combination, proximity, or as phrases using Search Pages in Chronicling America.] Tesla, Niagara, coil, ray, electricity, lamp, invention, Edison.
• Using the full name Nikola Tesla is not as effective, as many contemporaries referred to him as “Dr. Tesla” or simply “Tesla.”
• Since Tesla had a long and varied career, it is helpful to use inventions as search terms, or restrict the search dates to the desired time.

Sample Articles from Chronicling America:

• "A Man of the Future," The Times (Richmond, VA), October 21,1894, Page 2, Image 2, col. 1-4
• "The Electrical Magician," Omaha Daily Bee (Omaha, NE), April 14, 1895, Page 10, Image 10, col. 4-5
• "The X-Ray Wonders," St. Paul Daily Globe (Saint Paul, MN), March 11, 1896, Page 3, Image 3, col. 4
• "What are Cathode Rays?," Omaha Daily Bee (Omaha, NE), March 15, 1896, Page 13, Image 13, col. 5-6
• "Strangest Man in New York," The Salt Lake Herald (Salt Lake City, UT), June 27, 1897, Page 17, Image 17, col. 4-6
• "Tesla’s Latest Feat," The Salt Lake Herald (Salt Lake City, UT), November 9, 1898, Page 7, Image 7, col. 1-2
• "Tesla’s Latest Wonder," The San Francisco Call (San Francisco, CA), November 13, 1898, Page 25, Image 25, col. 1-6
• "Artificial Daylight at Last Made by Tesla," The San Francisco Call (San Francisco, CA), April 16, 1899, Page 20, Image 20, col. 1-4
• "Nikola Tesla Promises Communication with Mars," The Times (Richmond, VA), January 13, 1901, Page 8, Image 8, col. 1-2
• "Tesla’s New Invention," The Times (Washington, DC), February 15, 1901, Page 1, Image 1, col. 5-6
• "Weird Doings at the Tesla Plant," The Evening World (New York, NY), July 17, 1903, Page 5, Image 5, col. 2
• "Wireless Vision Seen by Tesla," The Leavenworth Echo (Leavenworth, WA), October 22, 1915, Page 3, Image 3, col. 1