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Long Island's Hidden Past: Nikola Tesla built lab and electric tower on Long Island's North Shore

Revered as one of the greatest inventors of all time - the true father of electricity and alternating current - Nikola Tesla is part of Long Island's Hidden Past. In 1901, Tesla built an elaborate

News 12 Staff

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Jan 7, 2015, 4:18 PM

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Updated 3,488 days ago

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Revered as one of the greatest inventors of all time - the true father of electricity and alternating current - Nikola Tesla is part of Long Island's Hidden Past.
In 1901, Tesla built an elaborate lab and electric tower along the North Shore, in a place called Wardenclyffe, now Shoreham.
Tesla developed the practical use of alternating current and other inventions that allow electricity and information to travel wirelessly. 
He invented the remote control, and used it to launch a 4-foot boat off the beach in Shoreham.
On the site of the lab, Tesla erected a giant 187-foot tower with funding from J.P. Morgan.
The tower was tested but never used. Tesla wanted to provide free energy to the world.
But that idea did not resonate with the titans of industry. Morgan pulled the funding when he found out that there was no way to charge for the electricity.
Tesla went bankrupt, the tower was scrapped for metal, and he died poor and alone.
Today, there's a push to turn the Tesla laboratory, vacant for decades, into a science center.
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