February, 1883: Tesla's Strasbourg Assignment
On assignment by Continental Edison Company, Tesla was sent to Strasbourg, France to repair a new D.C. lighting system installed at the German Railway company which was damaged on a trial run. The government approved the job after the repairs, but Tesla never received the compensation he was promised for the work.
June 10th, 1883: Tesla Demonstrates A.C. Motor
Tesla demonstrates newly completed A.C. induction motor before Mr. Bauzin, former mayor of Strasbourg, and several potential investors. They watched the motor with interest, but it was apparent they did not understand the value of the invention.
Tesla, obsessed with solving the riddle of A.C., suffers a mental breakdown and isn't expected to live. A short time later, Tesla begins to recover and during a walk in the Varosliget city park of Budapest with friend Anthony Szigety, the solution comes to Tesla in a vision.
In his recollection of the event, Tesla states that he looked at the setting sun and began to recite a passage from Goethe's Faust. At that very moment the idea came to him in a flash and he drew a diagram of the motor in the sand with a stick.
Tesla and his good friend Anthony Szigety accepted positions with the Continental Edison Company, which had recently been started in Paris. Tesla worked for Charles Batchelor at the Ivry-sur-Seine lamp factory and installed lighting systems in the Paris Opera House and a theater in Bavaria.
He submitted a plan for improving the Edison dynamos to Mr. Rau, an administrator for the company. The plan was approved and soon Tesla's automatic regulator was gratefully accepted. Tesla was likely expecting to be compensated but was dispatched to Strasbourg before payment was awarded.
Tesla's uncles, Petar and Pavle, came to his rescue and put together enough money to help him escape from Gospić. Tesla travelled to Prague, but arrived too late to enroll in Karl-Ferdinand University.
Even if Tesla had arrived early enough, he would have not been permitted to enroll as he had never taken Greek and did not speak or write Czech. Tesla lived at 13 Smeckach St. and spent most of his time at the Klementinum Library and Narodni Kavarna (People's Cafe) on Vodickova St. Tesla did attend lectures at the University as an auditor, but did not receive marks for the courses.
Tesla's Uncle Pavle arranges for Tesla to work for Ferenc Puskas at the Budapest Telephone Exchange in Hungary, which was then under construction. When Tesla arrived, he found that the new business was not anywhere near operational and instead worked as a draftsman in the Central Telegraph Office. Within a few months, the Budapest Telephone Exchange became operational and Tesla was assigned the position of Chief Electrician. During his employment, Tesla made numerous improvements to the equipment and developed an amplifier device.
Tesla was reported to Maribor police because he did not have a residence permit. Administrative proceedings were started immediately and Tesla was returned to Gospić under police guard.
Tesla's father, Milutin Tesla, contracts an unspecified illness and dies at age 60. The following day, he was given a "funeral liturgy fit for a saint," and was buried in the Jasikovac cemetery in Divoselo.
Tesla taught a large class of students in his old school, the "Real Gymnasium" in Gospić. His former fellow student, Mojsije Medić, was also teaching there at the time. Tesla taught, but did not want this to be his future.