http://blog.batteriesplus.com/2013/tesla-vs-edison-the-debate-rages-on	Early Life Nikola Tesla was born in Smiljan, Croatia on July 10, 1856. His father, Milutin Tesla, was a priest and his mother, Djuka Mandic, built small household appliances in her spare time while caring for him and his siblings. His mother's hobby in small appliances is thought to have helped build his curiosity in electricity.  Tesla went on to many universities and gained an extensive education beginning in the 1870s at the following location: Realschule, Karlstadt Polytechnic Institute in Graz, Austria University of Prague After completing an education one of his first jobs was working for the Paris division of Thomas Edison's electric company prior to immigrating to the United States.
Coming to America Upon coming to United States in 1884, Tesla met with Edison for an interview and was hired to work to repair and upgrade the station dynamos of the ship the Oregon. Upon finishing the project Edison did not pay Tesla the amount that had been agreed upon and after Tesla left Edison's company. To learn more about the rivalry between the two go to Rivalry with Edison. After many odd jobs and projects where he was not able to get the proper recognition for his work, Tesla scored a deal with the famed Westinghouse in 1888 where they partnered to build some of the world's first alternating current motors.  Tesla's first big break came in 1893 when the bidding began for who would be installing the lighting for the 1983 Chicago World's Fair. Westinghouse under bid Edison and the entire event was lit by Tesla's new alternating current.
Peak of Career Perhaps one of Tesla's most well known accomplishments that was known world wide was the design and construction of the Nigra Falls power plant. The facility used Tesla's newly designed AC generators to harness the power of the falls and show the world just how efficient and power full alternating current was. In the late 1890s Tesla's Nigra Falls generators were powering Buffalo, NY over 26 miles away. It was at this point that Tesla was seen as the victor in his rivalry with Edison. After making a name for himself Tesla went onto a new project, attempting to build a network of towers that would use the Earth to transmit power and communications wirelessly throughout the planet. This was known as the Wardenclyffe Project. Although he never finished the project, he set the stage for radio and many other modern technologies we use today.
Downfall and Later Life One of Tesla's largest downfalls that later led to his demise was he couldn't commercialize anything. Throughout his entire career he could barely fund his own projects and the Wardenclyffe Tower would bankrupt him, along with various other projects Toward the end of his life he lived in the New York Hotel where his room was paid for by old colleges since he couldn't afford it. He was alone and had no significant other because he believed early on in his life that a woman would only distract him. He loved to feed pidgeons in his spare time and became very fond of a white on in particular. He died in his hotel room on January 7, 1943.