A LeJenD'(airy) Birthday Bash Blog

An Electrical Event

Monday, July 12, 1936

         On Friday, the seldom seen Nikola Tesla emerged from hermitage for his annual press conference and his eightieth birthday celebration, gray of hair and dressed smartly in a black business suit and sensible tie. True to years past, a smorgasbord of food and drink was set up in the Grand Ballroom of the Hotel New Yorker, which even included delectable dishes created by the man of honor himself. The ballroom was adorned with Mr. Tesla’s inventions; the centerpiece in the ballroom, his large plasma lamp. As they had for his seventy-fifth birthday, many pioneers in the fields of science and engineering sent their congratulations and well-wishes, some even making surprise appearances at the event itself. Members of the press rubbed elbows with New York’s elite and world renown scientists such as Einstein and John Rockefeller.

         As Tesla's plasma lamp crackled in the background, he began the evening with a press conference, where he discussed his most recent inventions, regaled in past exploits, and made fantastic claims about some of his new ideas. Amongst these claims was the statement that had finally found a way to transmit wireless power. Reporters questioned Tesla on the progress of a technique he had announced the year before called telegeodynamics, to which Tesla stated that it would be used to locate mineral deposits underground through the transmission of electrical energy from the surface, making it easier to find caves and other subsurface formations.

         Guests were treated to a dinner of roast fowl and vegetables, while Tesla dined on his customary bread, honey, and vegetable juices. Following dinner, Albert Einstein led the toast to Mr. Tesla as hotel staff carried in his birthday cake; a three-tiered confection of honeyed cakes iced with a simple white frosting. The soirée lasted until approximately midnight, at which time Tesla excused himself in order to return to his workshop.



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