Inventions: The Tesla Coil

The inventor, Nikola Tesla, had dreamed of supplying the world with electricity wirelessly. Tesla developed a device in 1891 which could produce bolts of high voltage electricity, known as the Tesla coil. The device has a primary coil which passes a current onto a secondary coil, creating a high voltage and low current, which shoots out a lightning-like discharge. Tesla put on demonstrations showing how the Tesla coil could be used to power light bulbs wirelessly nearby. He also held the light bulbs up close to the Tesla coil, powering them without harm to himself. From 1899 to 1900, Tesla built a new laboratory in Colorado Springs, and it is here that he built a larger version of his Tesla coil called the magnifying transmitter. It measured 51 feet or 15.5 meters in diameter and could reach outputs of up to 12 million volts. With this version of the Tesla coil, the inventor could light up three incandescent bulbs at 100 feet or 30 meters away. One night the magnifying transmitter overloaded during an experiment, burning out the power station and turning the town dark, terrifying the locals. In 1901, with funding from businessmen, Tesla built his next larger transmitter. This time in New York, named the Wardenclyffe Tower. Tesla had acquired the investment by pitching his proposed world wireless system as a way of communicating across the world by broadcasting messages as well as delivering electricity wirelessly. Physicist and radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi would send the first Atlantic wireless transmission in 1901 using Tesla's ideas, but Tesla was not interested in wireless messages as much as wireless power. Nevertheless, while wireless messaging worked, there was no proof that wireless power could work beyond a short range. By 1904, Tesla's investors had pulled out, and with staggering debts, the Wardenclyffe Tower was eventually demolished in 1917. In the early 20th century, the Tesla coil would be used for a number of things, including radios, medicine, x-rays, electrotherapy, and for entertainment. But in the present day, the Tesla coil has been replaced by more modern circuitry. Subscribe for more history videos. Thank you for all your support on the Simple History YouTube channel. If you enjoy the channel, please consider supporting us at Patreon.