Change was gradually gaining speed. While mankind had not yet begun to experiment with automobiles or with airplanes in 1856, men had 

always dreamed of speed and of flight. Many of the inventions that constitute the infrastructure of our modern world had not yet been conceived of, let alone put into use. The use of electricity was in its infant stages, but men were emerging who attempted to harness this strange phenomenon of nature. At first thought, one would assume that the great British Empire or the up-and-coming American innovators must have had the market of ideas cornered, yet we begin our story in an unexpected locale. 

Tesla at 75 - Time, July 20, 1931