Born in Croatia in 1856, Tesla was a forgotten contributor to some of the most important technological advances in modern times.  A brilliant, hardworking student, he dropped out of Austrian Polytechnic before graduating.  Thomas Edison was bringing an electrical revolution to the United States with his direct current power plants, and Tesla came to the US to work for him.  When Westinghouse hired Tesla to develop an alternating current transformer for the Niagara Falls Power Commission, “The War of the Currents” was on. Tesla researched wireless power distribution, X-rays for medical use, radar, and vertical lift airplanes.  He invented florescent lighting and developed the fore-runner of the radio, later patented by Marconi. Many of his inventions were not put into patent protection, and Tesla died in poverty in 1943.