Nikola Tesla was born during a fierce lightning storm on July 10, 1856. The midwife saw it as a bad omen, but his mother predicted he would be a child of light. He grew up in the village of Smiljan, then part of the Austrian Empire, in a Serbian Orthodox family. His father, Milutin Tesla, was a priest who hoped Nikola would follow in his footsteps. But his mother, Đuka Mandić, was an inventor herself. Though she couldn't read, she created tools and appliances for their home and was known for her incredible memory.

Tesla's early life was marked by intellectual curiosity. He showed a remarkable talent for mathematics and science from a young age. At his school in Karlovac, he was so quick at solving problems that his teachers sometimes suspected him of cheating. He could perform complex calculations, like integral calculus, entirely in his head.

In 1875, Tesla enrolled at the Austrian Polytechnic in Graz on a military scholarship. He started as a star student, earning the highest possible grades and working tirelessly. It was here that he first encountered the Gramme dynamo, a machine that could function as both a generator and a motor. It used direct current (DC) and produced sparks that Tesla saw as a sign of inefficiency. He became convinced there was a better way.

However, his time in Graz took a turn. He became addicted to gambling, lost his scholarship, and eventually dropped out of school in his third year. He cut ties with his family to hide the fact that he'd left university.

After a brief period working as a draftsman in Slovenia, Tesla was persuaded by his father to continue his education. In 1880, he attended Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague. His father passed away that year, and with limited funds, Tesla only stayed for a single term before moving on to find work in Budapest. His formal education was over, but his real work was just beginning. The ideas that sparked in Graz would soon change the world.