Editing Nikola Tesla (section)

== Death ==
[[File:Room3327HotelNewYorker.jpg|thumb|alt=Room 3327 of the Hotel New Yorker, where Tesla died|Room 3327 of the [[Wyndham New Yorker Hotel|Hotel New Yorker]], where Tesla died]]
[[File:Aug09 TeslaPlaque.jpg|thumb|Commemorative plaque, New Yorker Hotel]]

In the fall of 1937 at the age of 81, after midnight one night, Tesla left the Hotel New Yorker to make his regular commute to the cathedral and library to feed the pigeons. While crossing a street a couple of blocks from the hotel, Tesla was struck by a moving taxicab and was thrown to the ground. His back was severely wrenched and three of his ribs were broken in the accident. The full extent of his injuries was never known; Tesla refused to consult a doctor, an almost lifelong custom, and never fully recovered.{{sfn|O'Neill|1944|p=313}}{{sfn|Carlson|2013|p=389}}

On 7 January 1943, at the age of 86, Tesla died alone in Room 3327 of the [[Wyndham New Yorker Hotel|Hotel New Yorker]]. His body was found by maid Alice Monaghan when she entered Tesla's room, ignoring the "do not disturb" sign that Tesla had placed on his door two days earlier. Assistant medical examiner H.W. Wembley examined the body and ruled that the cause of death had been [[coronary thrombosis]] (a type of heart attack).

Two days later the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] ordered the [[Alien Property Custodian]] to seize Tesla's belongings. [[John G. Trump]], a professor at [[MIT|M.I.T.]] and a well-known electrical engineer serving as a technical aide to the [[National Defense Research Committee]], was called in to analyze the Tesla items. After a three-day investigation, Trump's report concluded that there was nothing which would constitute a hazard in unfriendly hands, stating:

{{blockquote|His [Tesla's] thoughts and efforts during at least the past 15 years were primarily of a speculative, philosophical, and somewhat promotional character often concerned with the production and wireless transmission of power; but did not include new, sound, workable principles or methods for realizing such results.<ref name="autogeneratedll">{{cite web |title=The Missing Papers |url=https://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/ll_mispapers.html |publisher=PBS |access-date=5 July 2012 |archive-date=24 January 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010124064300/https://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/ll_mispapers.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

In a box purported to contain a part of Tesla's "death ray", Trump found a 45-year-old [[Decade Box|multidecade resistance box]].<ref>{{harvnb|Childress|1993|p=249}}</ref>

On 10 January 1943, New York City mayor [[Fiorello La Guardia]] read a eulogy written by Slovene-American author [[Louis Adamic]] live over [[WNYC (AM)|WNYC]] radio while violin pieces "[[Ave Maria (Schubert)|Ave Maria]]" and "[[Tamo daleko]]" were played in the background. On 12 January, two thousand people attended a state funeral for Tesla at the [[Cathedral of St. John the Divine]] in Manhattan. After the funeral, Tesla's body was taken to the [[Ferncliff Cemetery]] in Ardsley, New York, where it was later cremated. The following day, a second service was conducted by prominent priests in the Trinity Chapel (today's [[Trinity Chapel Complex|Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Sava]]) in New York City.