Nikola Tesla (/ˈtɛslə/;[2] Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Тесла, [nǐkola têsla]; 10 July 1856[a] – 7 January 1943) was a Serbian-American[3][4] engineer, futurist, and inventor. He is known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system.[5] Born and raised in the Austrian Empire, Tesla first studied engineering and physics in the 1870s without receiv