Thanks. I honestly did not know that.
If tribal pursuit ever adds a category ‘useless electrical knowledge’, I’m all set.
The actual invention of Nikola Tesla was not the generator. . . that was around for a while. It was the invention of a working generator, transmission, transformers, and MOTORS. . . Hippolyte Pixii invented the rotating magnetic field that generated the Alternating current. . . but did nothing with it. He made the observation. He found the SCIENCE, but not the technology. Tesla invented the TECHNOLOGY that made it useful.
Similarly, Edison did not invent the electric light, nor even the electric light bulb. There were quite a few of those before Thomas Edison found a practical one. Electric arc lights were in existence for a long time, at least since 1850. . . and light bulbs in vacuum were also in existence that for years before Edison went to work on them. . . but the filament material was the problem. Edison tried over 6,000 types of carbon sources before finding one that was consistent and lasted longer than a few hours. He was not even the first to patent an electric carbon filament light bulb. Swan in the UK did that. . . 18 years before Edison. . . but his bulb only lasted less than a day before burning out. Edison like Tesla created the TECHNOLOGY that made it work.
In many ways, Thomas Edison was like Steve Jobs. . . he brought people together and gave them instructions on what he wanted and gave them the resources to make it happen.
Even my own Great, great, great Grandfather Alexander Graham Bell probably did not invent the telephone (there's some good evidence he stole it from Elisha Gray). . . but under today's standard of first to demonstrate, Bell could still be considered the inventor, no matter if he stole it or not. I think he did steal it. . . even if he is my ancestor. However, Bell did not show much in the way of flashes of inspiration later in life, instead sponsoring other inventors with his money and resources. . . even, apparently, eventually even bringing Gray into the Bell system.