33 Interesting Facts About Nikola Tesla

Last updated on April 6th, 2023

27. Tesla cared about the environment and was concerned that mankind would soon consume the available non-renewable natural resources. Thus, he was keen to invent some alternative ways of developing renewable energy and hence conducted many experiments of such nature in his lab.

28. Tesla was not much concerned about making substantial money out of his inventions, which is also a reason why he died poor. His aim was to invent things to make human life better and not just make a lot of money out of his intelligence.

29.  Tesla had insomnia and obsessive compulsive behavior and was obsessed with number 3. The inventor said that he once worked for 84 hours straight without any rest.

30. Tesla has to his name more than 275 patents in 26 different countries. Here is a link to the list of Nikola Tesla’s patents.

31. Tesla, to boost his brain power, performed toe exercises. He used to squish his toes, each 100 times every night, to stimulate his brain cells.

32. Died in a hotel room: Nikola Tesla died in Room 3327 of the New Yorker Hotel.

33. Tesla had ambitions to illuminate the whole earth. He theorized that the gases in the Earth’s upper atmosphere could carry high-frequency electrical currents and hence “terrestrial night light” could be created with the transmission of electrical currents through these gases. However, his dream of “illuminating the whole earth artificially” yet remains to be realized.

Quotes by Nikola Tesla

1. “I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success… such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything.”

2. “The year 2100 will see eugenics universally established. In past ages, the law governing the survival of the fittest roughly weeded out the less desirable strains. Then man’s new sense of pity began to interfere with the ruthless workings of nature. As a result, we continue to keep alive and to breed the unfit.”

3. “Archimedes was my ideal. I admired the works of artists, but to my mind, they were only shadows and semblances. The inventor, I thought, gives to the world creations which are palpable, which live and work.”

4. “The scientific man does not aim at an immediate result. He does not expect that his advanced ideas will be readily taken up. His work is like that of the planter – for the future. His duty is to lay the foundation for those who are to come, and point the way.”

5. “Be alone, that is the secret of invention; be alone, that is when ideas are born.”

6. “We crave for new sensations but soon become indifferent to them. The wonders of yesterday are today common occurrences”

7. “If he [Thomas Edison] had a needle to find in a haystack, he would not stop to reason where it was most likely to be, but would proceed at once with the feverish diligence of a bee, to examine straw after straw until he found the object of his search. … Just a little theory and calculation would have saved him ninety percent of his labor.”

8. “My method is different. I do not rush into actual work. When I get an idea I start at once building it up in my imagination. I change the construction, make improvements, and operate the device entirely in my mind.”

9. “As I review the events of my past life I realize how subtle are the influences that shape our destinies.”

10. “The progressive development of man is vitally dependent on invention.”

11. “When natural inclination develops into a passionate desire, one advances towards his goal in seven-league boots.”

Nikola Tesla – Quick facts