Photos Courtesy of: Wikipedia and PBS

Tesla's Legacy

Tesla	Electrical Engineering University of Belgrade, Serbia

Tesla died of heart failure alone in the New Yorker Hotel, some time between the evening of January 5 and the morning of January 8, 1943, at the age of 86. Despite selling his AC electricity patents, Tesla was essentially destitute and died with significant debts. Later that year the US Supreme Court recognized him as the inventor of radio.

Immediately after Tesla's death became known, the Federal Bureau of Investigation instructed the government's Alien Property Custodian office to take possession of his papers and property, despite his US citizenship.

Tesla's family and the Yugoslav embassy struggled with the American authorities to gain these items after his death due to the potential significance of some of his research. Eventually, his nephew, Sava Kosanovi, got possession of some of his personal effects, which are now housed in the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade, Serbia.

Tesla's funeral took place on January 12, 1943, at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in Manhattan, New York City. After the funeral, his body was cremated. His ashes were taken to Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1957. The urn was placed in the Nikola Tesla Museum, where it resides to this day.

The SI unit, Tesla (T) for measuring magnetic flux density or magnetic induction (commonly known as the magnetic field ) was named in Tesla’s honour at the Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures, Paris in 1960.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), of which Tesla had been vice president, also created an award in recognition of Nikola Tesla called the IEEE Nikola Tesla Award. It is given to individuals or a team that has made outstanding contributions to the generation or utilization of electric power, and is considered the most prestigious award in the area of electric power.

The Tesla crater on the far side of the moon and the minor planet 2244 Tesla are also named after Tesla.

Tesla has received much recognition within Serbia. He is featured on the current 100 Serbian dinar note. The largest power plant complex in Serbia, the TPP Nikola Tesla is named in his honor. On July 10, 2006 the biggest airport in Serbia (Belgrade) was renamed Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport in honor of Tesla’s 150th birthday.

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