Top 10 Amazing Nikola Tesla Inventions and Innovations

We’ll never know the EXACT details of this Tesla innovation, because he took the specifics to his grave. What we do know is this: the Serbian-American began working on a laser-like or “teleforce” beam projector in the early 1900s with a stream of energy so potent that he expected it to end all wars - hence it being dubbed a ‘death ray’ by the media. Tesla shopped around the idea and actually wrote an essay entitled “The Art of Projecting Concentrated Non-dispersive Energy through the Natural Media” in 1937. In the 1980s, the US tested a particle beam weapon as part of a proposed anti-ballistic missile defense system, so it’s clear that Tesla’s idea was not dismissed.

Back in 1898, New Yorkers roamed the streets of Broadway while a strange man played around with some type of apparatus. Crazy? Sure. Brilliant? Yes. That apparatus was a teleautomaton, which was a boat that was remotely controlled through radio signals, and Tesla introduced his invention at none other than Madison Square Garden. It would be another 50+ years until the television remote control was developed, however by that time Tesla was long gone and most people didn’t care who came up with the concept - they just wanted life to be easier. Tesla was quite good at helping us out.

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#8: Electric Motor via Induction Motor

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Well, here’s an idea that caught on! At this very moment, you may be fanning yourself off, but not with your own hands, because it’s not the olden days, amiright? No, you use an electric fan while Dad works away in the garage with power tools and Mom counts the time on her watch because it’s almost time for dinner. What we’re saying is this: Tesla is part of your everyday life unless you’re living under a rock in the mountains...although there’s nothing wrong with that. Not everybody is lucky enough to enjoy Tesla’s innovation today, so remember this man when you open up the refrigerator for another snack. Because if it wasn’t for the induction motor that ran on an alternating current that he developed in 1887, we wouldn’t have many household appliances, tools, and so on and so forth that we probably take for granted now.

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#7: Tesla Coil

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Perhaps you’re familiar with the movies. And perhaps you’re familiar with crazy movie scientists? Well, then you’re familiar with the Tesla coil, because any legit crazy scientist has MANY. Today, it’s mainly used to entertain kids and moviegoers, and you might have even been lucky enough to personally witness the monster Tesla coil that’s on display every year at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, and the one musician Bjork once used it as instrument in the song “Thunderbolt,” which needless to say was not a Top 40 hit. However, when Tesla first invented this electrical resonant transformer, its production of high-voltage, low-current, high frequency alternating current electricity was incorporated into wireless telegraphy and in medical equipment.

We’ve all heard this line before: “Mommy, Daddy, I want a robot!” But what it really means is, “Mommy, Daddy, I want to pay homage to the great mind of Nikola Tesla.” When he introduced his aforementioned boat to a New York City crowd in 1898, you could say that people were a tiny bit agitated as the concept itself was frightening. But what transpired was the dawn of a new era; a world in which Tesla hoped that actual robots could assist human beings in positive ways. Tesla saw the world through a unique lens, but most of his contemporaries saw something else. That’s why Tesla was Tesla, and that’s why we now have robots. And as such, he’s also been called the Father of Robotics.

With all due respect to the Italian often credited with inventing radio - Guglielmo Marconi - it was Nikola Tesla who first innovated the concept. Unfortunately, when he was preparing to transmit a signal in 1895, his entire lab went up in flames, and all was lost. But not the idea, of course. Even so, Marconi was soon all the rage for his “invention” that Nikola claimed was done with numerous Tesla patents, but in 1943, Tesla was redeemed when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld his original patent. However, this came shortly after his death. Oh well.

Ok, maybe Tesla didn’t invent the idea of “free energy,” but he did manage to start building a wireless communication tower known as Wardenclyffe tower thanks to the financial support of J.P. Morgan. By displaying the relationship between a transmitter and receiver station, Tesla paved the way for our world of today, where we browse the World Wide Web and send text messages. In 1893, however, it was just another crazy Tesla idea, but you better believe it was an important one.

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#3: X-Rays

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If you’ve ever broken a bone, you’ve hopefully visited a doctor for a complete exam. This kind of experience can be traced back all the way to 1894 when Tesla began studying radiant energy, but the aforementioned 1895 lab fire destroyed all of his experiments. Months later, the German Wilhelm Rontgen “discovered” X-Rays, which led Tesla to build on his theories by incorporating his Tesla coils. And so, radiography was born thanks to the innovations of one Nikola Tesla.

The original fluorescent lamp went on the market in the 1930s, but it came after decades of work from a variety of inventors. One of them was Tesla, who introduced his “electrodeless lamp” or induction light at the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. This occasion marked a split between Tesla and his former mentor Thomas Edison, who would become known for developing a long-lasting electric light bulb.

Here’s where you’d normally see the honorable mentions, but we’ve decided ten is enough for today!

It was known as the “War of Currents.” On one side, you have Thomas Edison and General Electric promoting DC (meaning: direct current) electricity, and on the other you have Tesla’s AC (meaning: alternating current) theory backed by Westinghouse. Edison created a culture of fear by showing just how dangerous electricity could be, while Tesla shot it through his entire body. How about that? And it was Tesla's AC motor design that was ultimately adopted in modern times. Tesla invented and innovated many designs over the course of his 86 years, but none more essential than alternating current.

Do you agree with our list? What is your favorite amazing Nikola Tesla invention or innovation? For more mind-blowing Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.