Nikola Tesla with his equipment for producing high-frequency alternating currents

We present this photograph to celebrate Nikola Tesla, one of the most imaginative and influential inventors of the modern age. Born in 1856 in what is now Croatia, Tesla became known for his pioneering work in electricity, especially for developing alternating current (AC) systems that enabled the transmission of power over long distances. His ideas helped shape the electrical infrastructure that still powers cities today.

Tesla spent much of his career in the United States, where he worked on ambitious experiments involving wireless transmission, radio technology, and high-voltage electricity. Brilliant but often misunderstood, he was as famous for his bold visions of the future as for the inventions he brought to life.

In the photograph (taken by Dickenson V. Alley), we see Tesla seated calmly in his Colorado Springs laboratory around 1899, surrounded by massive artificial lightning bolts produced by his magnifying transmitter. The scene is a staged double exposure created by Alley for Century Magazine to show the scale of Tesla's experiments. We also see the inscription: "To my illustrious friend Sir William Crookes of whom I always think and whose kind letters I never answer! Nikola Tesla June 17, 1901."

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