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How Nikola Tesla Repaid An Enormous Debt He Owed A Hotel By Giving Them A Death Beam
One of the world’s most brilliant minds found an unusual, if not underhanded way, to pay off a huge bill
Nikola Tesla is one of the brightest minds the world has ever known. His rampant curiosity and ability to see solutions led to some significant discoveries and advancements that made the world a better place because of his work. Unfortunately, he wasn’t great with money, and sometimes found himself in tight spots when it came to settling debts. Famously living out of hotels, he once had to settle up with his lodging over a massive unpaid balance. Not possessing the needed money, he was able to barter his way out of being evicted by giving the establishment a death beam in exchange for a clean ledger.
Born in Serbia in 1856 to a priest and a homemaker, Tesla showed at an early age that he possessed a photographic memory. As a student, he used that to his advantage as he gobbled up knowledge in science and math, in addition to speaking eight languages. No matter the difficulty, there were few math equations he couldn’t solve by simply calculating them in his head, leading his teachers to sometimes wonder if he was somehow cheating.
