Nikola Tesla was born in 1856 in Smiljan, Croatia. He was an inventor, engineer, and an Ailurophile! His favorite childhood companion, was a black cat called “Macak”.
Dubbed the “Father of Electricity” Nikola Tesla had aproximately 300 patents to his name.
At the age of 83, he wrote a letter to a friend, Miss Fotitch, with whom he bonded later in life, because of their shared love of cats.
In the letter, Mr. Tesla revealed one of the reasons behind his lifelong fascination with electricity and how his favorite companion, a cat black cat called “Macak” played a role in his most famous contribution to science — creating AC electric system, still the main electrical system in the world today.
“In the dusk of the evening as I stroked Macak’s back, I saw a miracle which made me speechless with amazement. Macak’s back was a sheet of light, and my hand produced a shower of crackling sparks loud enough to be heard all over the house … My mother seemed charmed — ‘Stop playing with the cat,’ she said. ‘He might start a fire.’ But I was thinking abstractly. Is Nature a gigantic cat? If so, who strokes its back?… I cannot exaggerate the effect of this marvelous night on my childish imagination. Day after day I have asked myself, what is electricity?”
“I cannot exaggerate the effect of this marvelous night on my childish imagination. Day after day I have asked myself “what is electricity?” and found no answer. Eighty years have gone by since that time and I still ask the same question, unable to answer it. Some pseudo-scientist, of whom there are only too many, may tell you that he can, but do not believe him. If any of them know what it is, I would also know, and my chances are better than any of them, for my laboratory work and practical experience are more extensive, and my life covers three generations of scientific research.“