was a Yugoslav-American inventor who pioneered in radio and invented the alternating-current motor. He also invented a system that made the universal transmission and distribution of electricity possible. He was born in Smiljan, Croatia, on July 10, 1856. His father was a clergyman of the Serbian Orthodox Church and his mother an expert needle worker and an inventor of home implements. Tesla received a technical training at the polytechnic school in Graz and the University of Prague. In 1881 he began work for the newly founded telephone compa ....