the Master of Lightning

Wizard for Hire

A Tall, brilliant, handsome, and equally eccentric engineer, Nikola Tesla was a modern-day wizard in desperate need of a friend shortly into the century he has since been credited with inventing.

In 1900, Tesla was given a generous grant by J. P. Morgan to finance his Wardenclyffe wireless transmission tower on Long island, new York. Five years later, Tesla's tower was unfinished as his finances dried up, as did the royalties for the ALTERNATING current motors he invented. 

In need of funds, Tesla repeatedly offered his services to the US military. Although Presidents McKinley and Roosevelt passed on these opportunities, there is reason to believe President Taft took Tesla up on an offer due to a major component that had been missing before: Nellie Taft, who possessed a keen interest in the latest technologies.

THE TELAUTOMATON

at Madison Square Garden in 1898, Nikola Tesla demonstrated an unusual device that SIMULTANEOUSLY dazzled and terrified everyone in attendance. dubbed the "Telautomaton" by its creator, the machine was a small boat which Tesla operated in a water tank via radio without any connecting wires or tethers of any kind.

Officially listed as U.S. Patent 613,809 and proposed to the military, this device was the first robot, and vehicle, and weapon in history operated entirely by remote control.