What did Nikola Tesla invent?
NIKOLA Tesla held over 300 patents for 196 separate ideas or inventions, across 26 countries - including 112 in the USA, and 30 in the UK.
His inventions are considered to have changed the world - with systems like alternating current (AC) still widely used today. But what else did he come up with?
What did Nikola Tesla invent?
1. The electric arc lamp
This was the first patent that Serbian-American inventor Tesla filed, in March 1885.
The arc light was the first practical electric light, and had previously been invented by Humphry Davy in the first decade of the 1800s.
But Tesla developed this idea further, designing a lamp with automatic light adjustment and a fail-switch, mostly for outdoor lighting.
By 1886, Tesla had installed a central, station-based system in New Jersey, using his arc lamp to power streets and a few factory buildings.
2. The Tesla coil
Invented in 1891, the Tesla coil was a transformer used to generate low-current, high-voltage, and high-frequency electricity.
It was, and still is, used in electrical devices like radios and TVs, and also for wireless transmission.
INVENTIONS
The Tesla coil in action is said to look like lightning, and can light up fluorescent bulbs with no need for a wired connection.
3. Alternating current
Alternating current, which was patented in March 1891, is considered to be the invention of Tesla's that changed the world.
Alternating current (AC) is the system of electricity we use worldwide today, in our homes and at work - with mains electricity running off an AC supply.
Tesla's AC system became locked in a "battle of the currents" in the late 1880s and early 1890s, as fellow inventor Thomas Edison had also proposed a 'direct current' alternative.
Edison's theory saw current continually running in a single direction, like in a battery.
But eventually, Tesla's electrical system won out - as it was much more energy-efficient and cheaper to produce.
4. Hydroelectric power plant
Thanks to Tesla's AC electrical system, he can also be credited with hydroelectric plants providing power for industrial purposes.
The first generating plant to put AC electricity into industrial use was the Ames Hydroelectric Generating Plant, which opened in Colorado, USA, in 1891.
This facility remains in operation today, and is listed as a historical milestone by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).
5. Induction motor
It is thought that Tesla filed the first patent for the induction motor - or the alternating current electric motor, back in 1888, whilst still at university.
It is true that the induction motor really came into its own after Tesla conceived of AC - but it was later found that Italian inventor Galileo Ferraris demonstrated his engine first, in 1885.
6. The Shadowgraph
It seems that Tesla unwittingly produced the first x-ray image in the United States in 1895, after he created a special glass vacuum tube, which turned out to be a special X-ray bulb.
Tesla was attempting to obtain images of Mark Twain with the tube - but instead ended up capturing the screw for adjusting the camera lens.
He was later able to obtain images of the human body using the vacuum tube - including one of his own foot - which he called shadowgraphs.
Tesla sent his images to Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, who had discovered X-rays earlier that year, and Roentgen praised his sophisticated X-ray imaging.
7. The radio
By 1895, Tesla had developed the ability to transmit and receive radio signals, and in 1897 he filed some basic radio patent applications, which were granted in 1900.
But by then tragedy had struck, as a huge fire in his laboratory saw Tesla lose much of his work.
For a number of decades, there was much debate about who had invented the radio - Tesla, or an Italian experimenter named Guglielmo Marconi, who had filed a patent in 1896 for the first wireless telegraph.
But, just months after Tesla's death in 1943, the US Supreme Court decided to uphold Tesla's warrant, and recognise him as inventor of the radio.
8. Neon signage
Tesla did not create the neon light - but he is thought to have created the first, rudimentary neon sign, around 1899.
It featured a collection of thin glass tubes shaped into swirls and designs, surrounding one that is shaped into the word "light".
9. The Tesla turbine
The bladeless Tesla turbine was patented in May 1913.
The turbine used discs instead of blades in order to convert fluid into another form of energy.
A stream of fluid was poured in between the discs, causing them to spin and generate energy.
In terms of combustion this is said to have had 90 per cent fuel efficiency, which is quite an achievement even today.
However, although the Tesla turbine has been commercially available since 1982, it has not seen widespread commercial use since its invention.
Despite his countless inventions, Tesla did not end up rich, because he waived royalties for his alternating current to save the Westinghouse Company that had backed him when he had needed them.
He died on January 7, 1943 - and his vision is now embodied in the Tesla Tower he had built in his Long Island laboratories, which is now a museum.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Tesla cars are named in his honour after his contributions to the invention off the electric motor.
And his name is also used for the unit of strength of magnetic fields, the Tesla.