Nikola Tesla was born in a farmhouse on the night of July 9, 1856 in the small town of Smilijan, Croatia while a thunderstorm was raging on outside. Nikola's father, Milutin Tesla, was a former officer under Napoleon who left the military and instead joined the ministry where he became known for his talented writing and impressive memory. Nikola's mother, Djouka Tesla, worked from before dawn through the late hours of the night tending to the Tesla farm and raising her five children. She was also a talented inventor, creating household items such as a mechanical eggbeater. Tesla's highly intelligent older brother Dane died by being thrown off a horse when he was twelve years old, causing a bittersweet feeling every time Nikola had success due to the remembrance of Dane and what he may have achieved. Nikola shied away from other boys his age and gained traits from his parents, he spent time reading all of his father's books and inventing things such as a propeller powered entirely by insects.
English: A rotating magnetic field is a magnetic f...
Nikola Tesla Memorial Center in Smiljan, Croatia
Nikola Tesla's father Milutin, Serbian Orthodox pr...The Teslas moved to the larger town of Gospic when Nikola was seven where Nikola helped his father in church and attended Gymnasium, a type of classical prep school, from the age of ten until he was seventeen. After graduating he was expected to follow in his father's footsteps and join the church, however Nikola hated this idea and instead gave up all religious beliefs. He instead persuaded his father to allow him to study engineering due to his love of arithmetic and enrolled at Joanneum, an Austrian technical college. After graduating he enrolled at the University of Prague, but was forced to drop out without a degree because of his father's death and having to become self-supporting.
He would then hold several jobs over the next few...