Nikola Tesla: The Wizard Who Lit the World | AC vs DC, Dreams & a Lonely End

History on the Run

What if one mind could light entire cities—and then fade into the shadows? Tonight on History on the Run, we sprint through the electrifying life of Nikola Tesla: the visionary who championed AC power, dazzled crowds with crackling lightning, dreamed of wireless energy, and clashed with Thomas Edison in the legendary War of Currents.

In this fast-paced story, you’ll see:
• Tesla’s bold arrival in New York and first brush with Edison
• The World’s Fair of 1893 blazing with AC light
• Niagara Falls tamed by turbines and Tesla’s ideas
• Wardenclyffe Tower and the dream of free, wireless power
• The heartbreak, myths, and mystery surrounding his final years

If you enjoy history told with sparks, hit subscribe and drop a comment: Team Tesla or Team Edison? And tell us where you’re watching from!

#NikolaTesla #HistoryOnTheRun #WarOfCurrents #Edison #ACDC

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00:00Welcome back to History on the Run, where we sprint through the past at lightning speed,

00:07and sometimes, literally, lightning speed. If you're new here, make sure to hit that subscribe

00:13button and let me know in the comments where you're tuning in from. Tonight's story is about

00:19one of history's most fascinating minds. A man who could imagine entire machines in his head

00:26before ever building them, who dreamed of wireless energy powering the entire planet,

00:32and who also fed pigeons in New York parks while the world moved on without him. His name is Nikola

00:39Tesla, and his life is equal parts brilliance, tragedy, and mystery. Nikola Tesla was born in 1856

00:48in the village of Smilgen, in what is now Croatia, but then part of the Austrian Empire. His father

00:55was a priest. His mother never received formal education, but was an inventor in her own right,

01:02designing household tools. From a young age, Tesla displayed a strange gift. He claimed to see bursts

01:09of light, visions that would appear without warning. Instead of frightening him, these visions fueled his

01:15imagination. By adolescence, he was already dreaming of harnessing the forces of nature. He studied

01:23engineering in Graz and Prague, but his restless mind and a tendency to clash with authority meant he

01:30never officially got a degree. Still, what he lacked on paper, he more than made up for in raw

01:37intellect. Tesla could memorize entire books, speak multiple languages, and design complex machines

01:44entirely in his head down to the smallest bowl without ever needing to sketch them. Tesla's early work

01:51in Europe eventually led him to Paris, where he worked for the Continental Edison Company. That's right,

01:58that Edison. Young Tesla was soon sent across the Atlantic to America in 1884, carrying little more

02:05than a letter of introduction to Thomas Edison himself. It said, I know two great men, and you are

02:12one of them. The other is this young man. Not a bad reference. When Tesla arrived in New York,

02:19he quickly impressed Edison with his knowledge of electrical systems. Edison, of course, was the

02:25champion of direct current DC. Tesla, however, had a new vision, alternating current AC. AC could travel

02:35long distances while DC fizzled out after just a short run. Edison didn't like this at all. In fact,

02:43what followed became known as the War of Currents. It was messy, it was dramatic, and it involved

02:51electrocuted elephants. Yes, really. Edison tried to discredit AC by staging public demonstrations

02:59showing how dangerous it was. Tesla, meanwhile, teamed up with industrialist George Westinghouse,

03:05who saw AC's potential to power entire cities. The rivalry between Edison and Tesla wasn't just about

03:13pride. It was about the future of electricity. Edison staged gruesome shows, zapping dogs, horses,

03:22and even poor Topsy the Elephant with AC power, trying to prove it was deadly. Tesla responded with

03:31jaw-dropping demonstrations of his own, shooting lightning from Tesla coils, letting electricity

03:37pass through his body to light lamps, and convincing audiences that AC was not just safe, but revolutionary.

03:44The battle reached its climax at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. Edison's DC couldn't compete with

03:53with the practicality and lower cost of Tesla's AC system, backed by Westinghouse. The fair was lit with AC,

04:01a glowing victory. Not long after, Tesla's system was chosen to harness the power of Niagara Falls,

04:09one of the greatest engineering feats of its time. Electricity now powered cities, industries,

04:16and homes, all thanks to Tesla's vision. Tesla wasn't just an engineer. He was a showman. He loved dazzling

04:26crowds with inventions that looked like magic. He built wireless-controlled boats decades before

04:33radio-controlled devices were comet. He lit lamps without wires. He built the famous Tesla coil,

04:42which could hurl arcs of lightning across a room. Newspapers called him a wizard. And honestly,

04:51he kind of was. But Tesla wasn't motivated by money. While others like Edison and Westinghouse grew

04:59wealthy, Tesla often gave away his ideas or signed away royalties. He once tore up a contract with Westinghouse

05:07worth millions to save the company during financial trouble. Brilliant? Yes. Business savvy? Not at all.

05:17Tesla's greatest dream was wireless energy. In the early 1900s, he began work on the Wardenclyffe

05:25Tower on Long Island. It was supposed to transmit electricity wirelessly across the globe. No wires,

05:33no limits, free energy for everyone. Imagine charging your phone by just being near a tower. Tesla was

05:41more than a century ahead of his time. But there was a problem. Free energy doesn't make investors rich.

05:48JP Morgan, who initially backed the project, pulled out when he realized Tesla couldn't monetize it. The

05:56tower was eventually dismantled, leaving Tesla heartbroken. Still, his ideas laid the groundwork

06:03for modern wireless communication, from radio to Wi-Fi. Though others, like Guillermo Marconi,

06:10are often credited with inventing radio, Tesla's patents tell a different story. In fact, in 1943,

06:19the US Supreme Court recognized Tesla as the true inventor of radio. Unfortunately, by then,

06:26Tesla had already passed away. Despite his brilliance, Tesla's later years were filled with

06:32isolation. He moved from hotel to hotel in New York, often unable to pay his bills. His eccentricities

06:40grew. He claimed to communicate with pigeons, saying he had a special bond with one in particular.

06:47He spoke of receiving signals from outer space. Some thought he was losing his mind. Others believed

06:53he was simply too far ahead for the world to understand. As new inventors and industrialists

06:59rose to fame, Tesla faded into the background. The man who had once lit the world now lived in shadows.

07:09On January 7, 1943, Nikola Tesla died alone in room 3327 of the New Yorker Hotel. He was 86 years old.

07:20He had no fortune, no family at his side, just a stack of notebooks filled with dreams that never came to life.

07:28After his death, the US government seized many of his papers, sparking conspiracy theories that

07:35had been on the verge of creating powerful new weapons or limitless energy devices. Though his final years

07:42were lonely, history would not forget him. Today, Tesla's name lives on, in science, in pop culture,

07:50and even in an electric car company that you may have heard of. His visions of renewable energy,

07:56wireless communication, and a world powered by imagination continue to inspire. Nikola Tesla was

08:04more than an inventor. He was a visionary who dreamed of a world unchained from wires,

08:10where power and knowledge flowed freely. He won some battles, lost others, but his ideas outlived him.

08:17While Edison was buried with honors and riches, Tesla became a legend, a symbol of genius misunderstood.

08:26Next time you plug in a lamp, connect to Wi-Fi, or hear the hum of electricity, remember the man who

08:32imagined it all long before anyone else. That's the story of Nikola Tesla, the man who gave us the

08:40modern world, and yet died almost forgotten. If you enjoyed this journey through his life, make sure

08:46to like the video, subscribe to History on the Run, and leave a comment with who you think was the

08:52greater inventor, Edison or Tesla. And remember, the future belongs to those who dream boldly, just like Tesla did.

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