Was Nikola Tesla a Time Traveler? His Predictions Will Make You Wonder
Have you ever read something from the past that sounds like it was written today? That’s the feeling many people get when they read the words of Nikola Tesla.
Tesla was an inventor and engineer who lived in the late 1800s and early 1900s. He is famous for his work with alternating current (AC) electricity, the system we still use to power our homes.
But Tesla wasn’t just an inventor. He was a true visionary. He imagined a future that his peers couldn’t even dream of. While other scientists were focused on the next small step, Tesla was thinking 100 years ahead. Let’s look at some of his most shocking predictions that came true.
1. He Predicted the Smartphone (and Video Calls!)
Long before anyone imagined a computer, let alone one that fits in your pocket, Tesla described it perfectly. In a 1926 interview, he said:
“When wireless is perfectly applied, the whole earth will be converted into a huge brain… We shall be able to communicate with one another instantly, irrespective of distance. Not only this, but through television and telephony we shall see and hear one another as perfectly as though we were face to face… and the instruments… will be amazingly simple… a man will be able to carry one in his vest pocket.”
Think about what he just described:
- “A huge brain”: This sounds exactly like the internet—a global network of information.
- “See and hear one another perfectly”: He predicted FaceTime and Zoom calls.
- “An instrument… in his vest pocket”: This is, without a doubt, a smartphone.
This was in 1926. The first handheld mobile phone call wasn’t made until 1973, almost 50 years later.
2. He Predicted Wi-Fi and Wireless Charging
Tesla was obsessed with wireless technology. His biggest dream was to build a “World Wireless System” to transmit information and power around the globe without any wires.
While his grand vision of powering the whole planet wirelessly hasn’t happened (yet), his core idea is the foundation of our modern world. Every time you use Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or place your phone on a wireless charging pad, you are using the exact principles Tesla was developing over a century ago. He knew that energy and information could be transmitted through the air.
3. He Predicted Drones and Robotics
In 1898, Tesla stunned a crowd at Madison Square Garden. He showed them a small boat that he could control from a distance using radio waves. It was the world’s first remote-controlled device.
People at the time thought it was magic or telepathy. But Tesla knew what it really was. When a reporter called it a “wireless torpedo,” Tesla corrected him. He said it was the first in a “race of robots… mechanical men which will do the laborious work of the human race.”
He didn’t just invent remote control; he predicted the entire field of robotics and automation. Today, his “race of robots” builds our cars in factories, helps doctors perform surgery, and flies as military drones.
He Knew the Future Was His
Nikola Tesla’s ideas were so advanced that many people in his time thought he was crazy. He died with very little money, and many of his greatest ideas were forgotten for decades.
But Tesla knew his work wasn’t for his time. He was building the foundation for the next century. He once said:
“The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine.”
Looking at the smartphone in your hand and the Wi-Fi signal connecting you to the world, it’s clear he was right. The future truly belongs to Tesla.
Nikola Tesla predicted the smartphone?! – YouTube
