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AUTHORS’ NOTES

Nikola Tesla lived from 1856-1943. He was an inventor, physicist, mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, and futurist. He is best known for his contributions to the modern alternating current (AC) electrical supply system. Tesla’s patents and theoretical work helped form the basis of wireless communication and radio.

His many revolutionary developments in the field of electromagnetism were based on Michael Faraday’s theories of electromagnetic technology. His last remaining laboratory, Wardenclyffe Tower, was sold in 1917 when funding ran out for his experiments into wireless energy, which he dreamed he could one day give freely to all humanity. The Tower was sold and eventually demolished. However, today the laboratory and the foundation of the Tower remain intact. Recently, a non-profit group purchased the property—it plans to turn it into the Tesla Science Museum. It will be the only Tesla Museum in the United States, and it will stand as a tribute to a man who is often overlooked in the records of scientific history.

The Last Imperial Family of Russia, the Romanovs, has one of the darkest histories of the twentieth-century. The family, being forced to abdicate the throne in the early days of Communism, was held prisoner for over a year. The last 55 days of their captivity took place in Ekaterinburg, Russia. It was there, in a place called Ipatiev House in the early hours of July 17, 1918, that the family members and their household, eleven people in total, were sent to the basement and brutally murdered by Bolshevik soldiers. The remains were then stripped, mutilated, and buried in a mass grave in a nearby forest.

Many years later, the remains of nine bodies were found and identified as those of the Imperial family and their staff. The two missing bodies were believed to be those of Alexei and Anastasia Romanov.

In 1998, eighty years after their murder, those nine bodies were laid to rest in a state funeral in St. Petersburg. Sometime later, pieces of remains some believe belong to the lost Romanov children were found far from the first gravesite. While they have been tested and found to be genetically similar, the Greek Orthodox Church and many others have challenged their authenticity.

Today, the remains of the Lost Imperials have not been laid to rest.