TESLA, NIKOLA. 1856-1943.

TESLA, NIKOLA. 1856-1943.
Autograph Note Signed ("N Tesla"), to Mrs. Dodge, 1 p, 12mo (162 x 109) bifolium, New York, December 3, 1904, on letterhead of the Waldorf Astoria, fold creases, minor offsetting from printed letterhead.

During the 1900s Tesla courted Wall Street investors at the Palm Garden at the Waldorf Astoria where he lived from 1900 to 1922 while trying to obtain financing for his system of wireless radio transmission. With funding from J.P. Morgan, he built a facility in Long Island with a broadcast tower. Competition from Marconi's system drove him into financial insolvency, partly as a result of a debt of $20,000 owed to the Waldorf Astoria. Among the innovations Tesla came up with were alternating current, wireless transmission of electricity, bladeless turbines, and radio remote control.