Nikola Tesla was born in 1856 in Austria-Hungary and educated in Croatia. As an engineer, inventor and physicist he made breakthrough discoveries including developing alternating current, conducting pioneering work on x-rays, radio, and wireless technology. Some of his most famous inventions were the AC induction motor and development of AC power distribution systems. He had a rivalry with Thomas Edison over alternating versus direct current in the late 1880s. Tesla died in 1943 in New York City at the age of 86 from a heart attack.