Outlandish and Extravagant Facts from the Gilded Age

29. Gilded Age Karma

Alternating current was championed by George Westinghouse, who pushed AC as the best means to bring electricity to the masses. On direct current’s side was Thomas Edison. There was serious money at stake, and Edison had cause to regret screwing his former employee over. DC is crappy when compared to AC, because DC is weaker and can only be transported short distances. However, Edison had already invested millions in DC, and he was not about to let the upstart AC flush that investment down the drain if he could help it. Unfortunately for Edison, in a bit of Gilded Age karma, the Nikola Tesla, the former employee whom he had screwed over and in whose face he had laughed, played a key role in wrecking that DC investment. Employed by Westinghouse, Tesla basically designed the modern AC electricity supply system that ensured its easy delivery and use.

That ensured the defeat of Thomas Edison and his DC plan in what came to be known as “The War of the Currents“. In addition to his key role in developing readily usable alternating current – a scientific contribution that revolutionized the world – Tesla had a long list of other major inventions. He had over 700 patents in 26 countries, that included: X-ray devices; electric generators; electric arc lamps; fluorescent lights; spark plugs; robots; remote controls, bladeless turbines, the Tesla Coil; and FM radio. Indeed, the modern world as we know it would be impossible without Tesla. As the American Institute of Electrical Engineers put it: “Were we to seize and eliminate from our industrial world the results of Mr. Tesla’s work, the wheels of industry would cease to turn, our towns would be dark“.