Guglielmo Marconi overshadowed Nikola Tesla through commercialization

The disputed inventor of the radio

Guglielmo Marconi was awarded the 1909 Nobel Prize in physics for inventing the wireless telegraph, which used radio waves to transmit Morse code. Nikola Tesla, however, was experimenting with radio waves in the 1890s, though much of his work was destroyed in a 1895 fire.

J.P. Morgan provided Nikola Tesla with funding for the Wardenclyffe Tower

The structure was part of a project to transmit electricity and communication signals wirelessly across the globe. Shortly after construction began, Guglielmo Marconi beat Tesla to the punch and transmitted a trans-Atlantic signal, preventing Tesla from getting additional funding to finish his project.

In 1898, Nikola Tesla wowed a crowd by controlling a boat with no visible connection

Some onlookers thought it was a trick, such a a monkey being inside the boat, rather than mind control or some other metaphysical phenomenon. In reality, Tesla was pioneering radio waves, proving wireless control was possible.

Nikola Tesla’s biggest dream was a worldwide network of wireless power transmission

He built the Wardenclyffe lab and a massive prototype transmission tower to develop trans-Atlantic transmission, but it was never operational. The concept was based on incorrect assumptions about Earth's conductivity, but it inspired subsequent efforts for wireless systems.

Nikola Tesla embraced showmanship when promoting ideas ahead of their time

He once electrified himself during a live demonstration to illustrate the safety and power of alternating current, and his presentations often featured arcing coils, glowing lights, and bold claims about a future of wireless power.

Tesla's lack of business savvy and inability to commercialize led to his obscurity

For decades, despite pioneering technologies for large-scale electrical systems and telecommunications, Nikola Tesla had been forgotten to history. Rather than monetizing his work and becoming more well known, his inventor-first mentality saw him sell off lucrative patents to fund new experiments in the short term.

Despite promoting alternative current, Nikola Tesla did not invent it

The technology was developed by Hippolyte Pixii in 1832, almost 25 years before Tesla was born. Other myths about Tesla include that he invented the transformer, radio, and the induction coil, which was invented by Nicholas Callan in 1836.

The Tesla coil was the first system to wireless transmit electricity

Developed in 1891, the system effectively consists of two open electric circuits with a gap of air between them. When a high enough voltage is built up, air becomes a conductor and sparks of electricity are generated.

When a radio company was the biggest tech stock around

The Radio Corporation of America was the biggest stock during the 1920s. Originally called Marconi Wireless, the company transformed radio technology. The company pioneered broadcasting, created NBC, and became a tech giant. After remarkable growth and challenges, RCA was acquired by General Electric in 1986, marking the end of its 67-year independent existence.

Marie Curie's research in radioactivity made her the first woman to win a Nobel Prize

Overcoming social and academic barriers, Curie's realization that radiation resulted from an intrinsic property of atoms reframed scientific understanding of the phenomenon. Her subsequent work in discovering two new elements—polonium and radium—earned her a second Nobel Prize.

Before the invention of transistors, vacuum tubes made radio possible

Discovered by Thomas Edison, vacuum tubes allow electrical currents to travel through empty space. Later modified into a diode—keeping current flowing in only one direction—vacuum tubes allowed electronics to turn alternating current into direct current.

The start of commercial radio depends on how someone defines the word 'commercial.'

Around 380 underwater cables power the Internet across the world.

On July 29, 1858, two steam-powered battleships met in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. There, they connected two ends of a 4,000 kilometer (2,500 mile) long, 1.5 centimeter (0.6 inch) wide cable, linking for the first time the European and North American continents by telegraph.

Computer pioneer Alan Turing was also an elite runner

Alan Turing is credited with helping to found modern computer science, in addition to cracking the Nazi code known as Enigma. Beyond these world-historical achievements, the British mathematician also nearly represented his country in the Olympics in the marathon, running just 11 minutes slower than the eventual gold recipient at the 1948 games. Read more on this lesser-known aspect of the man here.

Wilbur published key papers, gave speeches in the burgeoning aviation community

Much of the theoretical work is credited to Wilbur, whose scientific mind observed birds and early pioneers to discover the key problem to solve was control. This 1901 speech surveys the recent work in the field and showcases what the brothers worked on two years before their breakthrough flight.

Discoveries in electromagnetism became the catalyst for overturning Isaac Newton

To maintain the consistency of experimental results involving electricity, magnetism, and light, time and space had to cease being absolute and could change in value to keep the speed of light constant. This cosmic speed limit forced Einstein to revise the existing model of gravity.

Why Edwin Armstrong developed FM radio

AM radio was popular but prone to interference and static, which could be frustrating for listeners. In 1933, Armstrong, a Columbia University professor, discovered that a clearer signal could be broadcast by revising how it was captured.

The Civil War introduced many technological advances to both society and warfare

The conflict accelerated innovations—including railroads, telegraphs, ironclad ships, and mass-produced weapons—while advances in photography, medicine, and manufacturing transformed how Americans communicated, healed, and built after the war.

Silicon Valley’s history in technology can be traced back to the late 1800s

From its developments in radio, defense technology, and personal computing, Silicon Valley has been associated with innovating tech for more than a century. This animated timeline of Silicon Valley’s history helps visualize its evolution.

Pigeons were thought to be the cause of what would be evidence of the Big Bang

In 1964, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson accidentally detected the CMB while trying to eliminate persistent static from their radio antenna. The pair initially blamed the signal on pigeon droppings inside their antenna—cleaning it didn’t help, but it did win them a Nobel Prize.

Watch a video about how cellphones conquered the world

A fight with a telecom giant. A stunt call on a New York sidewalk. A forgotten memo that rewired the world. Host Sony Kassam sits down with Marty Cooper, the father of the cellphone, and Arlene Harris, the first lady of wireless, to explore the innovation, politics, and high-stakes battles that pried connectivity out of corporate control, unlocked the airwaves, and built the always-on world we live in today, for better or for worse.

The printing press spread novels widely

Johannes Gutenberg's invention of the printing press in 1440 changed how writing was reproduced. It allowed multiple manuscripts to be copied via movable type rather than by hand, making more literature more widely available. Over time, that change caused literacy rates to rise, creating a market for even more literature.

Rune Elmqvist forwent practicing medicine to invent the first inkjet printer

The Mingograph recorded real-time physiological signals from a patient's electrocardiogram, helping doctors diagnose heart and brain conditions. Eight years later, in 1958, Elmqvist worked with cardiac surgeon Åke Senning to develop the first fully implantable pacemaker.

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

'Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you.'

- Alexander Graham Bell's first words transmitted via telephone (March 10, 1876)

The USSR launched the world's first satellite, Sputnik 1, into space in 1957

Sputnik, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, became the world's first artificial satellite. While the technology itself was limited, the launch ignited the space race and signaled that intercontinental missiles and space technology had arrived faster than American leaders expected.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

English mathematician Ada Lovelace wrote the first computer algorithm a century before computers existed and hypothesized that computing devices would one day be able to compose music—foreseeing the generative AI systems of today.

The Mona Lisa's celebrity status and repeated restorations have obscured what made the painting so revolutionary for its time

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.

The first horror movie is believed to be George Méliès' 1986 short 'The Haunted Castle,' which pioneered the use of special effects

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

Planeterrellas create artificial auroras that mimic the atmospheric displays of light by setting up an electric field between two metal balls in a jar filled with a small amount of air.

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

SpaceX's S-1 or 'prospectus' revealed many previously unknown details about the company, including its unprofitability despite doing $18.7B in revenue in 2025, exactly how many voting shares Elon Musk will have in the company (roughly 85%), and more.

The power and influence of the American presidency have expanded significantly over time—far beyond what the founders envisioned.

El Niño, Spanish for 'the boy,' was named after Jesus Christ because the phenomenon resembled the weather changes observed around Christmastime.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

Fireworks make a loud booming sound after exploding due to air expanding faster than the speed of sound.

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

70 years ago today, city officials in Santa Cruz, California, banned rock 'n' roll to protect its youth from corruption after witnessing a 'provocative' concert the night before.

The first image of a black hole was captured by creating an Earth-sized virtual observatory from a network of eight radio telescopes.

Marburg virus, related to Ebola, is also extremely deadly, and has no available vaccine.

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.