1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,239 Speaker 1: Hey, history enthusiasts, you get not one, but two events 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:05,960 Speaker 1: in history today. Heads up that you also might hear 3 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:10,039 Speaker 1: two different hosts, Me and Tracy V. Wilson. With that said, 4 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:17,239 Speaker 1: on with the show, Welcome to this day in History Class. 5 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:21,000 Speaker 1: It's July tenth. Happy birthday to Nikola Tesla, one of 6 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:24,720 Speaker 1: the Internet's very favorite historical figures, who was born during 7 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: a huge thunderstorm on this day in eighteen fifty six. 8 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:30,640 Speaker 1: It makes total sense why the Internet would love him. 9 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:33,319 Speaker 1: Number one, he was brilliant. He spoke at least eight 10 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:36,240 Speaker 1: languages even as a small child. He was very bright, 11 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: very imaginative, love to just immerse himself in his father's library. 12 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:43,159 Speaker 1: He loved science and math, and was so good at 13 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: doing complicated math in his head that once he actually 14 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:49,040 Speaker 1: got to go to school, his teachers sometimes accused him 15 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:52,599 Speaker 1: of cheating. His father, though, was an Orthodox priest and 16 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 1: wanted Tesla to follow him into the priesthood. Tesla finally 17 00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: got his father to agree to send him to Austrian 18 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: Politech school after he became seriously ill with cholera. He 19 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:06,640 Speaker 1: basically got his dad to promise that if he survived 20 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,560 Speaker 1: this disease, he would get to go to school. Tesla 21 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 1: was also prolific in his work, and so many of 22 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:15,760 Speaker 1: his inventions had a dramatic effect on our lives and 23 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:20,039 Speaker 1: our technology today. He was issued hundreds of patents, and 24 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:24,960 Speaker 1: the alternating current induction motor, of course, is a part 25 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 1: of basically all of the electronic appliances in our lives now. 26 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: Alternating current is the kind of currents that's delivered in 27 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:36,200 Speaker 1: through the outlets in our houses. He also conceived of 28 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 1: things that exist today but seems totally far fetched. During 29 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:42,920 Speaker 1: his time, he had a high frequency oscillator that people 30 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: described as an earthquake machine. He thought about wireless power 31 00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:54,240 Speaker 1: transmission and wireless communications, uses of X rays, smartphones, radar, radio, astronomy. 32 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:56,680 Speaker 1: Some of those seems totally far fetched even now. There 33 00:01:56,720 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: was a thought camera today that seems still like science fiction. 34 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:04,440 Speaker 1: This was an artificial retina that could display people's thoughts 35 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:07,240 Speaker 1: on screen. There are scientists now that have come up 36 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:10,040 Speaker 1: with a number of ways to sort of translate people's 37 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:12,600 Speaker 1: thoughts into some kind of projected image, and that was 38 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:15,520 Speaker 1: a thing that he was imagining as a possibility way 39 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:18,359 Speaker 1: back then. Not all of the things that he worked 40 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:21,839 Speaker 1: on had this sort of happy, optimistic star trek kind 41 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 1: of future quality to them. There was also a death 42 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:26,800 Speaker 1: beam uh. And like a lot of people at the time, 43 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:29,600 Speaker 1: he was a proponent of eugenics. He had a plan 44 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:32,079 Speaker 1: in mind that could weed out all of the so 45 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:36,120 Speaker 1: called undesirables from humanity by the year twenty one hundred. 46 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:40,239 Speaker 1: Apart from that, though, people love to root for an underdog, 47 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,760 Speaker 1: and even though Tesla wasn't exactly an underdog, his story 48 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:47,200 Speaker 1: does have some of those traits. There's that whole story 49 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:50,519 Speaker 1: about Thomas Edison offering to pay him fifty thousand dollars 50 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:52,680 Speaker 1: to work on something, and when he finished it, Thomas 51 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:55,080 Speaker 1: Edison was like, oh, that was a joke. You would 52 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:57,920 Speaker 1: get it if you were a real American. There's this 53 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 1: colossally far reaching, an expansive war of the currents over 54 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:06,000 Speaker 1: whether alternating or direct current was the one that was 55 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 1: going to dominate the American technology. He sent a wireless 56 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: radio transmission in eight seven, but an inventor named Guliamo 57 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:17,160 Speaker 1: Marconi as the person who actually got the credit and 58 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:22,800 Speaker 1: the Nobel Prize for inventing radio. Tesla was overshadowed by 59 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,920 Speaker 1: both of these men, Edison and Marconi alike, and the 60 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:27,959 Speaker 1: fact that by the end of his career he was 61 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:30,919 Speaker 1: in debt, not particularly well known for his work, had 62 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 1: not made money on a lot of his inventions, makes 63 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 1: people think of him as an underdog. He was also 64 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 1: pretty eccentric. Today there is an addition, a lot of 65 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:42,040 Speaker 1: speculation about whether he had a mental illness, or a 66 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 1: developmental disorder or a mood disorder. He definitely had a 67 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: lot of symptoms that fit in with what we would 68 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: call obsessive compulsive disorder today. He was very fixated on hygiene, 69 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:56,000 Speaker 1: had some unusual phobias, and an aversion to things like pearls. 70 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 1: Near the end of his life, Tesla lived in the 71 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: New Yorker Hotel in New York City. Sometimes people wonder 72 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:03,880 Speaker 1: how he afforded to live in a hotel, and it's 73 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:07,480 Speaker 1: because George Westinghouse was actually paying that bill. He died 74 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:11,200 Speaker 1: on January seventh of ninette, at the age of eighty six. 75 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:14,880 Speaker 1: Today there is a unit of magnetic induction name for him, 76 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:19,400 Speaker 1: along with multiple Tesla museums, including the Tesla Science Center 77 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:23,680 Speaker 1: at warden Cliffe, which was created through a massively successful 78 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:27,279 Speaker 1: crowdfunding effort on the internet. Thanks to Eve's Jeff Cote 79 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:30,239 Speaker 1: for her research work on today's episode, and Tari Harrison, 80 00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 1: who edits all of these episodes. You can learn more 81 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:36,279 Speaker 1: about Tesla in the February four and six episodes of 82 00:04:36,279 --> 00:04:39,240 Speaker 1: Stuffy Miss and History Class. They're called Nicola Tesla and 83 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:42,159 Speaker 1: the War of the Currents Part one and two. You 84 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:45,440 Speaker 1: can subscribe to This Day in History Class on Apple Podcasts, 85 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:48,480 Speaker 1: Google Podcasts, and where else do you get your podcasts. 86 00:04:48,880 --> 00:05:01,760 Speaker 1: Tune in tomorrow for an incredible series of voyages. Hey, 87 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 1: I'm Eves, and welcome to This Day in History Class, 88 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:08,960 Speaker 1: a show that uncovers history one day at a time. 89 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: The day was July tenth, nineteen o two. Nicolaus Kien 90 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:25,040 Speaker 1: was born in Comagua, Cuba, the sixth child of aar 91 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:30,640 Speaker 1: Helia Battista Arrieta and Nicolaus Giena. By the time he 92 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:34,119 Speaker 1: died in nineteen eighty nine, Guienne was a celebrated Afro 93 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:38,840 Speaker 1: Cuban poet, writer, and activist. Both of Gian's parents were 94 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: of African and Spanish descent. His father had been a 95 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:45,960 Speaker 1: lieutenant that helped Cuba gain independence from Spain, and when 96 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 1: Guian was born, his father was a journalist. Dan's father 97 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:53,640 Speaker 1: supported the Partido Libertad or Liberal Party of Cuba, and 98 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 1: created a paper called La Libertad. Nicolas and his younger 99 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:02,000 Speaker 1: brother ran the printing press after school. In nineteen o nine, 100 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: Guienne's father became a senator, but in nineteen seventeen the 101 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:10,560 Speaker 1: Cuban government assassinated Guian's father for speaking out against electoral 102 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:15,279 Speaker 1: fraud and destroyed his printing press. Guienne was close to 103 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:19,800 Speaker 1: his father and the death affected the family greatly. Nicolas 104 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:23,520 Speaker 1: and his brother found work at another liberal paper. Though 105 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:26,560 Speaker 1: the family was struggling financially, he was able to complete 106 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:32,159 Speaker 1: his secondary education while he worked full time. Racial inequality, segregation, 107 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 1: and discrimination against Afro Cubans and people of mixed race 108 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:40,920 Speaker 1: were prevalent and pre revolutionary Cuba. Guienne experienced this discrimination 109 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:45,320 Speaker 1: in racism firsthand, and he wrote about it. By the 110 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 1: time he was seventeen years old, his poetry was published 111 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:52,240 Speaker 1: in a Comagway graphical. In nineteen twenty, he moved to 112 00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:55,240 Speaker 1: Havana to attend law school, but he was only there 113 00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:58,360 Speaker 1: for a year. He went back to Comagway and decided 114 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:02,680 Speaker 1: to pursue writing instead. In his work, he explored black 115 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:06,960 Speaker 1: social issues, folklore, and revolution he began writing for Cuban 116 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:11,640 Speaker 1: newspapers and magazines and founded his own literary magazine. In 117 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:15,320 Speaker 1: nineteen he took a job as Interior minister and returned 118 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:19,360 Speaker 1: to Cuba. Around this time he began to publish poems 119 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 1: in the journal Orto. The theme of U S imperialism 120 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:25,920 Speaker 1: popped up a lot in his poetry, and in the 121 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:29,680 Speaker 1: Sunday supplement of the Diadio de la Marina, Guienne published 122 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:33,200 Speaker 1: several articles on the treatment of black Cubans and racial injustice. 123 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:38,200 Speaker 1: In nineteen thirty, Guienne met American poet Langston Hughes, and 124 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 1: the two of them would become lifelong friends. Qu's love 125 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:46,080 Speaker 1: of music influenced Kien to incorporate into his poetry elements 126 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 1: of the Son, a musical folk tradition with Spanish and 127 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:54,000 Speaker 1: African roots. Guienne soon wrote eight poems inspired by the Son, 128 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 1: and that same year he released moltivalist Son, which was 129 00:07:57,720 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 1: his second book of poems, but his first to be public. 130 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:04,480 Speaker 1: He had already written a collection of poems titled Cerebroas, 131 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:09,760 Speaker 1: but it wasn't published until nineteen seventy seven. Motivo Stayson 132 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:13,920 Speaker 1: garnered gain a lot of attention and critical acclaim. The 133 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:18,400 Speaker 1: poetry combined African Creole dialects and language with Spanish poetic traditions, 134 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: and it called attention to black culture and life. Though 135 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:25,960 Speaker 1: Guienne had already been criticizing the mistreatment of black Cubans, 136 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:28,840 Speaker 1: he began to protest racism and imperialism in a way 137 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:33,520 Speaker 1: that uplifted his own heritage and celebrated black life. Throughout 138 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:38,520 Speaker 1: the nineteen thirties, he published more poetry, including the books 139 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:43,439 Speaker 1: and West Indies Limited Poemas. When the Spanish Civil War 140 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 1: started in nineteen thirty seven, he went to Spain to 141 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:49,320 Speaker 1: report on it. Inspired by his time in the war, 142 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:53,360 Speaker 1: he wrote the narrative epic poem Espa Poema and Guatro 143 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:58,520 Speaker 1: Angus Esponanza. While in Spain, he also acted as a 144 00:08:58,559 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 1: delegate to the anti fascist Second International Congress of Writers 145 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:05,880 Speaker 1: for the Defense of Culture. He also joined the Cuban 146 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:10,560 Speaker 1: Communist Party. In nineteen forty and nineteen forty eight, respectively, 147 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:13,880 Speaker 1: Deanne lost elections for the mayor of Comagway and senator 148 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:17,800 Speaker 1: for the Cuban Communist Party. Over the next couple of decades, 149 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:21,040 Speaker 1: Guian spent a lot of time in Europe and South America, 150 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:25,920 Speaker 1: during which time, he continued to write for Cuban journalso 151 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:29,600 Speaker 1: Bautista Uzaldivar was president of Cuba in the nineteen forties 152 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:33,520 Speaker 1: and dictator in the nineteen fifties. Guienne, who opposed his 153 00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:38,679 Speaker 1: oppressive rule, was arrested several times under the regime. Bautista 154 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:41,720 Speaker 1: barred Gian from returning to Cuba in nineteen fifty three 155 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:44,360 Speaker 1: after his trip to Chile, but he was allowed to 156 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:49,040 Speaker 1: return in nineteen fifty eight. Guienne supported Fidale Castro and 157 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:54,440 Speaker 1: his nineteen fifty nine overthrow Bautista's dictatorship. In nineteen sixty one, 158 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 1: Guienne was appointed president of the Union of Writers and Artists, 159 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:01,720 Speaker 1: a position he served in for twenty five years. He 160 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:05,080 Speaker 1: continued to write and published several more collections of poetry, 161 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:11,559 Speaker 1: touching topics like revolution, social protests, love, nature, and imperialism. 162 00:10:11,679 --> 00:10:15,160 Speaker 1: Solis Day Domingo, His last collection, came out in nineteen 163 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:21,280 Speaker 1: eighty two. Gian died on July six, ninety nine. Gian 164 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:24,600 Speaker 1: is remembered as the national poet of Cuba and as 165 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:27,800 Speaker 1: a writer and activist who reaffirmed black culture and was 166 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:31,800 Speaker 1: a voice of the Cuban Revolution. I'm Eve Jeffcode and 167 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:34,400 Speaker 1: hopefully you know a little more about history today than 168 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:37,720 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. And if you like to follow us 169 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:41,000 Speaker 1: on social media, you can find us at T d 170 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:47,679 Speaker 1: i h C Podcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Thank 171 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: you for joining me today, See you same place, same 172 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:59,720 Speaker 1: time tomorrow. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit 173 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:02,400 Speaker 1: the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 174 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:03,280 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.