Chautauquan Doug Mishler will portray Nikola Tesla at the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park 6:30 p.m. Aug. 25.
Best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current electricity supply system, Nikola Tesla was an inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer and futurist.
Tesla represented Westinghouse Electric at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago where the company had won the bid to light the Exposition with alternating current. In his research, he devised several experimental setups to produce X-rays and also spent a great deal of his time and fortune on a series of projects trying to develop the transmission of electrical power without wires.
For more than 20 years, Chautauqua scholar Doug Mishler has become nationally recognized for bringing "history to life." In addition to Nikola Tesla, Mishler has presented P.T. Barnum, Theodore Roosevelt, Jack Warner, D.W. Griffith, Stonewall Jackson, and fourteen other historical figures in Chautauquas nationwide. Mishler has a Ph.D. in American cultural history from the University of Nevada, Reno. Admission is $10 for adults, and free to Friends of Dangberg members and youth 16 and under.
Bring your own seating and no pets allowed - service animals only. Guests are welcome to bring a picnic as no food or beverages will be sold at this event. All events are held outdoors.
"Tesla in not an uncommon name here in Northern Nevada, and Doug Mishler will work his magic once again, to introduce our audience to the man behind the name," said Kim Harris, the park's events manager.
This event is sponsored by Douglas County, Carson Valley Accounting, Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce, Dr. James the Dentist, Edward Jones Investments - Tim Cleveland, Horse Tales, D&B Cabinets, Holiday Inn Express - Minden, Hone Company, Jacobs Family Berry Farm, Mangia Tutto, The Pink House, and Frances C. and William P. Smallwood Foundation. Additional support for the park is provided by Robert E. Schilling Charitable Fund and TruNorth Wealth Management.
Remaining events for the festival season include a concert with Granna performing traditional Celtic music, Aug. 26; and author Mark McLaughlin will give a presentation on "The History of Vigilantism in the West", Sept. 11.
