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American Titans: Edison vs. Tesla

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Great American Inventors in the field of

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Thomas Edison America's most famous inventor is wider and steadier than any known lamp and Nikola Tesla alternating an integral jinx but Edison and Tesla did that's truly revolutionary changed the world would never be the same again to Men on a collision course show down to power the world this is transfer this is laying the foundation for all new technologies coming from it this is transforming the way people work the way people live we will prove the value of my electrical systems is a whole planet that eventually is going to be electrified the struggle between AC and DC turns into a public smear campaign Battle of the ferns takes off into its most colorful moment note to be used is the dog pound slaughterhouse in the State Penitentiary are the Epic story of men struggling for Supremacy building Empires changing the course of American history American Titans in the basement of an aging State Prison William kemmler is about to make history a convicted killer who's the first man to face the electric chair goodbye William it's meant to be a new more Humane form of capital punishment this isn't just a milestone in the history three of the death penalty it's the Frontline in one of America's most notorious public relations Wars 80 Eddie's New York City is the epicenter for the battle over a revolutionary new energy source electricity up until now most homes are lit by kerosene lamps but electrician is about to light up the world this is the time when we're really at this precipice of what direction are we going to go in there are two competing Delivery Systems AC and DC on the side of direct is famed inventor Thomas Edison on the side of alternating current the Visionary genius Nikola Tesla these two Titans Clash the war of the currents the war of the currents is a real game-changing moment in American history in world history whoever comes out of this as the winter is going to hold the keys in their hands into the modern medicine is all be a household name because of his improvements to the Telegraph and telephone but his invention of the phonograph catapults him to iconic status people look at the phonogram play saved this is an incredible device and so he has a fabulous reputation gentleman genius is 1% inspiration 99% perspiration Thomas Edison is best remember as being a genius tinkerer who had an incredible sense of business in 1876 he sets up a groundbreaking laboratory in Menlo Park New Jersey is Revolution or not because they're inventing things because the way they've developed a methodology for invention it's really the first industrial research laboratory in American history progress gentleman do certain waves seed is always to try just one more time it's it Edison wanted to streamline invention process he wanted to work in such a way that it could be done in a very regulated basis it's very much Edison top of the hierarchy where he has underlings and sub managers that are producing inventions at a set industrialized paste even if you produce something Monumental it became Edison's patent for the company's patent and not necessarily yours Edison banks on a game-changing invention a long lasting incandescent light bulb uncertain about what filament will work in his new bulb Edison knows one thing his new invention will be powered by direct current direct current was more popular than alternating current is older than alternating current is it stems from the use of batteries in the mid-nineteenth century all batteries produced what's the current current that flows in One Direction lots of people were accustomed to working with batteries and you had Telegraph devices and you had telephones all of which used direct current because things that electric at the time we're powered by batteries direct current seem to those smartest way to power this stuff while Edison wrestles with inventing a light bulb powered by direct current young Serbian nickel Tesla concentrates on alternating current alternating means it's going back and forth that's a that's a concept that wasn't obvious to anyone but for Tesla it was during this time Trinity current is more difficult to generate and requires some complicated engineering when you made a generator in the 1860s and 1870s to attach one extra device which was called the commutator a commutator converts alternating current to direct current but it's problematic and frequency breaks down in a second year of studies of drawers at the Alano chest becomes great friends with Professor poeschel who is the professor of physics and poeschel wants to show the students that electricity has great potential it is really going to be the next up-and-coming thing your post really explains to his students that a generator can also be used as a motor if you power it with electricity so you sets all this up and of course the generator Honda motor doesn't work all that well cuz it was design for that purpose so it starts sparking the problem is the commutator Tesla proposes a radical new idea I believe I could be old and alternating current motor utilizing the Ole sole concurrent driving force at this time Motors run on direct current and a motor powered by AC is considered impossible for Tesla to imagine that he was going to produce a commutator lists Park free motor was truly a Visionary idea because there were Motors but they all had commentators and they were all much more complicated than just a thought they had to be alternating all right rather than offering praise just was Professor scoffs at his idea mr. Tesla accomplish great things but he certainly never give me able to do this but the amazing thing about Tesla even from that young age is he gets up the next morning and he says I'm going to prove the professor wrong I am going to make a sparkless, Utah fremaux has Tesla imagines his AC motor Edison is already selling his DC powered lighting system to the Press even though what is far from complete Edison was really focused on delivering a practical incandescent light bulb other should done incandescent light bulbs with filaments but the core shortcoming was the life of the ball trust me you shall not be disappointed you also wanted to modernize it to where it could be cheap biomass production you wanted as light bulb in every house in America Edison was very aware of his brand beloved you constantly found ways to promote himself you are about to see the first successful incandescent bulb the more people know Edison the more people are willing to trust him and by his product call Miss Ransom is so bright and clear is wider instead of a 1900 lamp press can barely contain themselves I will try Augustus I need to continue my work course what they don't know is that this light only lasts for an hour or two the fact that he went to the press and demonstrated to them a lightbulb with claims that were arguably a heavy stretch from the reality of what he could actually achieve at that time really demonstrates a powerful self confidence that he would Prevail he would overcome when do you plan on Takin it to the General Public soon Edison was someone who manipulated the media he would over-promise and what his products could do but that was part of his success it was part of what helped him develop this image as a mare Springs it better half a world away Nikola Tesla has a vision for an electrical system that could change everything and bring the wrath of Thomas Edison AC motor to me one more time in the 1880s the United States is experiencing unparalleled growth and development fortunes for being made in Steel money Time Finance by 1882 the world stands on the cusp of a revolution be home that will bring light and power into people's homes and businesses forever changing the way humans live this is a moment where there's a clear break from the past were all of us and then what's his back and says oh my God this is change the world if medicine is all about light Tesla's all about power Nikola Tesla is in Budapest struggling to design a motor that will convert alternating current interpower when suddenly he has a game-changing bishop Tesla has what psychologists would call in a deck memory and part of the edetic memory is the ability to visualize about arm's length in a box or cube out there whatever you're seeing in your mind side and if you have a really good version of these these visual skills you can actually picture out there a three dimensional object in a Flash of Genius Tesla imagines the design of his motor powered by AC electricity something allow him to make this incredible Maverick another words to convert how everybody made a motor up to that time Tesla's breakthrough flips conventional thinking upside down in a DC motor there's a spinning Rotor at the center made up of coils of wire with magnets outside for his AC motor Tesla moves the coils to the outside and the magnets to the center creating a rotating magnetic field conceptually the invention of the AC motor by Tesla is a Monumental breakthrough nobody had even thought it was possible for now it's only an image in Tesla's mine to build one he needs help from the one man who is working again everything Tesla dreams of creating Thomas Edison Edison has just moved his headquarters to New York City we will prove the value of my electrical systems Edison realizes that if he's going to fully develop his system and commercializing he's going to have to build a demonstration plant in New York City and he decides to build the plant in and around Wall Street it does so because he wants the power plant to provide lighting to the various businesses and banks that are are on Wall Street so that he can generate more money down the road more investors Wall Street in the Gilded Age between 18 Woody and 1900 is it Financial juggernaut men like JPMorgan help launch the modern American economy and produce staggering wealth for corporations and Titans like John Deere Andrew Carnegie School with my central generators here we can expand outward running our lines underground will be safe I will have no hanging wires and injuring public Jason is building a complete electrical system based entirely on DC from the generator through transmission to the light bulb when Edison was working on the light bulb he was doing much more than that he was working on the whole system to deliver that product to the market so he had the dynamos generating direct current electricity he was transmitting that electricity Edison system has one major flaw how far can we extend service copper drops I wouldn't push it past so about half a mile in every direction and the power out over long distances because you bleed away power as the current those are frosted the wires the only way to compensate for that bleed out is to increase the size of the wire as you go to increase the distance that you transmit the electricity from the station to the place where you have to use a larger and larger copper wire every foot you go further cost you a lot more money despite the limited Edison's DC electricity system he's Unstoppable nature drives him forward background within the month Anderson knows that electricity will change the world and he wants to cash in he sees that it's not just New York is certainly not just America it's a whole planet that eventually it's going to be electrified so there early Addison systems in London in Berlin and in Paris all which are prime markets for Addison because the system is going to work well in densely populated areas Edison's European light company needs skilled employees and there is one man who fix the bill Tesla started working for Addison and ended up in Strasburg at the Strasburg Rail station and electrical problem causes an explosion blowing out a wall during a visit by German Emperor Wilhelm the first medicines company is called in to upgrade the old electrical system but need someone who speaks German and knows how to install the Edison system Nikola Tesla for Tesla it's more than just a job it's an opportunity to advance his theories based around AC power Tesla find an old alternating current generator and decides to build an AC motor to put his theory to the test Taps into the alternating current means the wires that are still there from the old system he plugs in his motor and he is going to see with everything that he has been thinking about is actually going to work Freddy plugs it in Aluma hold the wheel doesn't turn and then he suddenly realizes that he's been thinking about this without considering the materials by which she made all of those those coins Tesla realizes he's using a material that cannot be magnetized to create the rotating magnetic field find a steel file that can be magnetized and jams it into the court after years of theory Tesla's dream comes to life and he's about to come to America turn the electric industry on its head by the 1880s transportation and the boo economy not only fuel American expansion outward but launch population explosions in the cities with an influx of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe Tesla joins the center at arrives in America to work for Edison he carries with him a letter of reference from to the door puskas of personal friend of Edison's. Streitz dear mr. Edison there are two great men in the world you are one and the young man standing in front of you is the you could not ask for better letter of recommendation Tesla banks on developing his plans for AC with Addison Miss Rabbit it is a pleasure to finally meet you in person Nikola Tesla which God speaks highly of you like you I am a man of ideas braid ideas originate in the muscles was the Tesla hard work hard work is the key person who started with us Tesla begins work on Edison's DC generators and immediately proved his worth drawing on experience as a troubleshooting field engineer in Europe Tesla goes to work in the Edison Machine Works redesigning the generators and the equipment so that they will operate more efficiently if we place the loan limits Wayfair shorter more efficient ones he's one of the few people that has some basic mathematics and physics background so he can apply a certain amount of science Hershey's problems systematically weekend triple D you done all sorts of improvements to different machines and devices throughout the DC system made things more efficient more effective more reliable really proven himself a Pharmacy useful to the Edison Enterprise according to Tesla Edison promise to pay him a $50,000 bonus for his work now he wants to collect what happens next forces these two Titans into a direct confrontation in the war of the currents in 1884 Thomas Edison expands his direct current lighting system Into the Heart of New York City it's the beginning of the nation's power grid this is laying the foundation for all new technologies coming from it this is for the way people worked the way people live modern appliances what this does is it allows ease household chores to be done automatically allows women a lot more time to join the war for this is truly bring us into the mod Nikola Tesla is a valuable employee to Edison expanding his product line and increasing efficiency end piece are improvements that increase efficiency Tesla thinks I'm a every warning for this and thinks he's going to get who was the $50,000 this is all very good Nicola would like to share with you another idea of mine I think you will find fascinating a shift design in AC motor even while working for Edison Tesla remains convinced that alternating current is the power of the future but Addison was very committed to the idea of using direct current direct current had been around a lot more alternating current how to Edison actually own a lot of patents on so the money was there with the red currant you're wasting your time in my time discussing this nonsense and Jason would allow you to expand Beyond a Lenny face mention that AC motor to me one more time Edison is so intent on developing his DC incandescent lighting system that he really could care less about me SEMO something else we should discuss you have done a marvelous job making improvements to my system I got something for you I would like to propose a toast job well done what is this where's my money what money my 50000 I was promised $50,000 Tesla you clearly don't understand American humor it's the end of Tesla working for Edison who decides to quit the Edison organization and he goes out and finds himself a new set of backers Alfred Brown and Charles pack believe Tesla can help make that money but are uncertain that an older getting current motor is worth back in the story of the Egg of Columbus Columbus appears before Queen Isabella and her Court to strike a d if he is able make an egg stand on end she agrees to provide financing for a fleet of ships of Columbus has a parable for doing the impossible and demonstrating to impossible to somebody so that they'll Finance your undertake Columbus lately clicks one end of the egg and makes it stand upright as a result of that demonstration Columbus gets the money to sail to the new world I propose to make an egg stand on end but without cricket Tesla's genius is his understanding of electromagnetism as he nice AC current to his Contraption the egg does the unthinkable Tesla created a system underneath the table that created the right electromagnetic field make object spin on the table like magic then we're reasonably confident you can do something useful and profitable and will invest in your company it was Tesla's ability to tell the right story to engage I can Browns imagination and that was probably Tesla's greatest gift is this ability to link the technological with a compelling story with brown and pecks backing Tesla finally has the funds to develop is a the motor and they know just the man to sell it to George Westinghouse has made a fortune working on air brakes and electric signal systems for the railroads he wants to move into another industrial sector you wants to move into electric lighting and power and he needs to buy the patents in order to basically launches business there so Westinghouse looks at the Tesla patents and decides that he's really going to go all in alternating current and if it's going to be an AC system that's going to serve lots of customers you need an AC mode Tesla is this guy you should be proud of what you've built it was really a match that made it Tesla had the motor and you needed somebody with the system Westinghouse had the system and he needed somebody with a motor Westinghouse has a system that's designed to transmit power over long distances and now with Tesla's AC his system will work to do an alternating current you could send 15000 volts over miles and not hundreds of miles it didn't bleed off as much of the power I traveling those kind of distances that was one of the real advantages here Justice Westinghouse seems to gain the advantage with Tesla's AC motor cheer over potentially dangerous electric wires grips New York City it's just wires going all the the place between buildings in the increasingly we're just getting concerned about where they going to put the next wires Edison company installs their distribution system Underground Edison system runs on less than 300 volts much safer than high voltage systems overhead as these systems are being put in people don't quite understand the real danger here you have a lot of people being electrocuted a lot of accidents taking place what happened I saw the wire he's alive you got to get in the spring of 1888 the tragic death of a Boy by a dangling wire strikes fear in the hearts of New Yorkers wire headline splash the front page of the papers create an opportunity for those opposing AC power and one man Harold Brown ceases the moment alternating currents smart too dangerous to be allowed into our cities unregulated and unrestrained brown has prepared a demonstration for the New York Board of electrical control his plan is to ban the use of alternating current above 300 volts something that would destroy Westinghouse and he's high voltage AC system was drawn to the controversy by the sense of what is right but does have an interest. Brown was Employee of Thomas Edison at Menlo Park he's a True Believer and the the future potential of direct current and it could be considered a zealot in any case much in the same way that Edison was you will see today the deadly results of alternating currents Harold Brown devises a Grizzly display to prove that AC is more deadly than DC Brown to do a series of demonstrations where he electrocutes animals using alternating current and he does so on a fairly gruesome way weighs approximately 80 lb I will begin today with 300 volts of direct current Brown starts with DC current the dog is in obvious pain butts box to charge the animals clearly in paintshop now the real issue is from a technical standpoint is not whether it's AC or DC it's the voltage thousand volts DC and a thousand Stacy both will kill you it's the level of the voltage that's deadly not whether it's AC versus DC I will now administer alternating currents Brown's strategy is to give people all were stop and Associate that the high voltages that are often used with a c are going to kill you if he wants AC and death to get to get conflate brown now administers alternating current at a higher voltage that he's previous demonstration with direct current it's a graphic display the dog is dead before it hits the floor the only place that an alternating current out to be used as the dog pound slaughterhouse State Penitentiary Edison's Camp raises the stakes if AC current is so good at killing animals why not use it to execute convicts the war of the currents is headed to a group Showdown by 1887 there is a fierce battle between inventors Thomas Edison and Nick Tesla over what kind of current will be used to distribute the electricity AC vs. DC bringing electricity to the masses for purposes of both lighting and mechanical motion through Motors that represented a a profound change in society you should be proud of what you've built to capitalize on that change Nikola Tesla house at the same time Harold Brown an engineer working with Thomas Edison exploits recent headlines and begins a public smear campaign to destroy alternating current Brown's timing couldn't be better than prison system decides that they are going to experiment with a more humane way of execution Brown and Edison actually were against the death penalty they didn't think it was a Humane thing to put prisoners to death but Brown figure one of the best ways that he could demonstrate the dangers of alternating current is it create a machine that would execute people using electricity Brown wants to use alternating current Westinghouse refuses to sell his alternating current generators to Brown or the prison system Brown goes off and quietly buys on the second hand Market a couple of Westinghouse generators and installs them Brown's proposal to use the electric chair Sparks controversy and a legal battle ensues to decide if electrocution is Humane the star witness is Thomas Edison's Medicine is the country's most famous inventors in the world and so when people go to him and ask him for his advice about new technologies about new inventions his word essentially is it an artificial electric current regenerated in such a way to produce death in human beings in every case yes when he said yes that's really all they needed to hear no further questions it's hard not to read into his presence around AC as the mode for electrocution as at least not being someone influenced by his business interests the courts agree with Addison Brown's electric chair is given the green light to carry out an execution the Final Act to link alternating current to death is set to play out in the Auburn Penitentiary William is the first man sentenced to die by electrocution and thanks to Brown it will be in a Westinghouse chair powered by alternating current expectation for the execution would be that would be short if you quickly take Shuffle results it wouldn't be scary it wouldn't be gross it wouldn't be a lot of blood it would be a quick efficient and then the prisoner would be dead if I was you candlers by sending them into violent convulsions after 17 seconds his body appears lifeless he's dead my God is still alive I don't really work out as plant first attempts to work so they had to go out at again still breathing after several adults is one of the most bought two executions in American history there are witnesses to attest to William kemmler 41st and the Flames as opposed to something else with speedclean deficient it was opposite Associated this with that accept because he had said it was a solution executions in the future so it was a real public relations Fiasco for Addison's group The Fallout from the failed smear campaign is the least of medicines worries the ability to track high voltage alternating current over long distances spreads the use of AC power across America Westinghouse is primed for Success at the orders for his AC system pouring Westinghouse has been steel the march on Edison because he's going to be able to sell electricity for companies where they want Motors to run elevators or about a mile the Westinghouse is in a great position but there is one final Face-Off between Edison's DC system and Tesla's AC system a dramatic final showdown in the war of the currents in the late 1800s as America's Gilded Age continues to shine Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla Arena of battle over electricity and it appears Tesla's AC system is winning the final Face-Off takes place at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago electricity will Amaze millions of people for the first time the only question will it be AC or DC whoever let the exposition was going to be totally night as the electricity provider of the Edison's direct current electrical system is up against the alternating current system designed by Tesla and now owned by Westinghouse but before Westinghouse can enter the bidding process you must resolve his financial issues Westinghouse takes on lots of contracts and gets lots of business but the company doesn't have enough happy and so Westinghouse is real in a bad spot the Westinghouse Bankers they're worried about liabilities that they have on the books and one of the liabilities is for every horsepower of electric motors that get installed the company has to pay Tesla to die since the back or saying you got to get rid of this contract I'm not able to secure the Investments I need because they are worried about how much this may cost in the future you put your face and I have faith in you and what we've built together and he tears up the contract and he walks away from steady Revenue stream Tesla is more concerned about his vision than money but that decision could come back to haunt him Tesla was invented the really wanted to transform Society fundamentally and his interest were really driven by intellectual and scientific vision with Tesla's contract torn up Westinghouse can now enter the bidding process for the World's Fair the Columbian exhibition in Chicago 1893 was the world's largest Exposition that ever happened it's actually the climax of The War of the currents this is the final bid between General Electric and Westinghouse to provide all manners of electricity to the world Columbian exposition it is a  yeah it also be the showcase for all the new technologies that are going to be run through electricity it's an opportunity to demonstrate to the world that you can build a complete system for a large or small City General Electric's bid to provide electricity in the form of direct current $577,485 Westinghouse is bid for alternating current electricity is 399 Westinghouse Winston contract it is a resounding victory for Westinghouse and Tesla it's also a gamble his real costs could be much higher than his bid but if he prevails Westinghouse nose he worth the publicity for Nikola Tesla it's the culmination of 17 years of hard work I think you're going to like what we've done with your generators Chicago World's Fair is a place with a Westinghouse Engineers are able to fully realized Tesla's vision the result of Tesla's life's work is laid out in what's a giant electricity Hall each of Tesla's generators can like 30,000 bulbs is the largest single exhibit of operating Machinery ever displayed on May 1st 1893 President Grover Cleveland throat is the switch that Heralds a new age with some 200,000 electric lights the world's first ferris wheel and a spectacular electric water fountain 27 million people from around the world witness The Wonder of electrical systems powered by alternating current understanding the Tesla. at the Chicago World's Fair is the series of demonstrations using high-voltage high-frequency AC which he generates from his newest invention the Tesla coil is demonstrating the the almost magical like nature things that could be done for electricity but the Chicago World's Fair was a triumphant victory Mercy house and alternating current over Addison and direct current the Columbian Exposition secures a c as the electricity of the future although Edison lost the war of the car he continues in vending and becomes one of the world's most recognized names and an American folk hero Tesla conducts Grand experiments include Wireless power transmission but his dreams and Visions went out over his business sense and he dies penniless and alone in a New York hotel Tesla's reputation has recently seen a river I just concept of an AC system ultimately prevails Edison and Tesla both have of profound impact on our society in the way we live today in the form of their Innovations in Electra everything we have today runs electricity there very few of us that can live a day a couple hours without something that's plugged in or battery power but Edison and Tesla did that revolutionary change

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American Titans: Edison vs. Tesla

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