Chichago Happenings - Oct. 1956

Nikola Tesla Honored by World Electricians

Nikola Tesla, the famed inventor whose 100th birthdav is being celebrated this year by electrical organizations in this country and abroad, will be honored at the Fall General Meeting of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in the Morrison Hotel in Chicago. Oct. 1-5, according to an announcement of W. M. Ballenger, MWSE, meeting chairman.

One of the highlights of the honors to be paid to the inventor of the alternating current motor which contributed to the electrical age, will be a demonstration-type lecture by Dr. Samuel G. Hibben commemorating Dr. Tesla's contributions to the electrical industry and to the world. Dr. Hibben, former director of applied lighting. Lamp Division, Westinghouse Electric Corp., is now with Holophane Co. The demonstration will consist of spectacular high-voltage and illumination demonstrations. Dr. Hibben's address will be devoted to aspect of Tesla's work which relates to high-frequency studies connected with radiation or luminous phenomena.

Tesla Honored at Convention of Engineers

The late Nikola Tesla, the Serbian immigrant who unlocked thousands of secrets of electricity, was honored yesterday at the opening of the five day convention of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in the Morrison hotel. Mayor Daley designated yesterday as Tesla day.

A special program reminded the engineers of his feats, including the development of the first hydroelectric generating station at Niagara Falls. N. Y.

Tesla came to the United States in 1884 and worked with the late Thomas A. Edison for a year. Later, Tesla sold his alternating current theory to George Westinghouse for a million dollars. He was almost penniless when he died in New York in 1943 at the age of 87.

Engineers Plan to Honor Tesla

One hundred years ago Nikola Tesla - the electrical wizard - was born in Serbia.

Here in the Morrison Hotel, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers will pay tribute to him during its fall meeting Oct. 1-5.

Tesla, who came to this country in 1884, worked with Thomas A. Edison and then set up his own laboratory. He is the man who gave the world its present system of alternating current for power, thus enabling electricity to be carried over longer distances.

Among his other pioneering discoveries was a system of remote radio controls by which he operated a submerged, crewless craft experimentally and thus laid the groundwork for the science of guided missiles.

Nikola Tesla

Several learned engineering societies, including the American Institute of Electrical Engineering, will join in honoring the memory and achievements of Nikola Tesla when they meet here in October. There is a little Tesla Society, founded by Leland Anderson, a young engineer of Minneapolis, which keeps alive the name of the man who gave us long-distance power transmission, the electrical turbine, alternating current, the Tesla coil, the beginnings of radar, television, and electronics in general.

Sixty years ago, the name of Tesla was as familiar as Edison's. He was not only an electrical wizard, but a man of great culture. He knew the literatures of all Europe in their original languages.

Some day the fame of Tesla will be resurrected and there will be amazement that he was ever forgotten. It might be a good idea to have a preview of this revival today as an inspiration to the youth of the nation that cries for scientifically trained personnel in order to compete with the despotic power of the East.

2 Electrical Meetings Set for Chicago

The one-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Nikola Tesla will be celebrated by the American Institute of Electrical Engineers at its annual meeting in Chicago, Ill., October 1-5. Tesla is best known for his invention of the alternating-current motor.