The 1890s was a very creative period for Tesla. He experimented in several areas, including radio. Most people believe Marconi invented radio, but it was Tesla who developed the basic equipment needed for radio broadcasting. Tesla also invented an x-ray machine, a neon light, and a remoted-controlled boat. Unfortunately, many of his plans and inventions were destroyed in a fire in his laboratory in 1895.
In 1899, Tesla moved to Colorado Springs, where he built a strange laboratory. He tried to develop a machine that would broadcast electrical power wirelessly, like radio waves. He accidentally created a giant display of artificial lightning, and once he knocked out the power system for Colorado Springs. However, he was basically unsuccessful. While in Colorado Springs, he also said that he heard radio messages from Mars and Venus. Newspaper reporters ridiculed him for this. In fact, the inventor had made an important discovery. The radio signals that he had detected were created by distant stars.
For the next few decades, Tesla continued to invent and develop ideas for future inventions. During World War I, he invented a type of radar to hunt German submarines. He created plans for the laser, the microwave oven, and the electron microscope. He invented a \"death ray\" that he thought could destroy airplanes from hundreds of miles away. He believed that this device---later known as a particle-beam weapon---make war impossible.
Tesla was certainly a genius, but he was an eccentric genius. He was afraid of women\'s pearl jewelry. He refused to stay in a hotel room with a number that was divisible by the number three. He always carefully cleaned the silverware before eating in restaurants, and he ate only boiled food. After a taxicab accident in 1937, his behavior became even more unusual. He spent most of his time feeding pigeons in the park and taking care of injured pigeons in his room at the Hotel New Yorker.