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Tesla Motors CEO donates $1 million to Shoreham Tesla museum

Elon Musk at the Tesla Grand Opening in 2008 (Credit: Brian Solis, Creative Commons)
Elon Musk — show here at the Tesla Grand Opening in 2008 — has promised $1 million to a Shoreham-based group hoping to build a museum dedicated to Nikola Tesla. (Credit: Brian Solis, Creative Commons)

In honor of Nikola Tesla’s 158th birthday today, the famed inventor received a very generous birthday present.

Elon Musk, CEO of electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors and aerospace company SpaceX, is donating $1 million to help build a museum where Telsa’s last laboratory was located at Wardenclyffe in Shoreham.

Tesla — a contemporary rival of Thomas Edison and a pioneer in the use of alternating current, radio, and x-rays — conducted experiments at the Wardenclyffe laboratory, which was built in 1901 in Shoreham.

Mr. Musk said he also plans to build a supercharger station for Tesla Motors’ electric cars on the museum’s property, which is owned by Jane Alcorn’s group, Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe.

“Tesla had dreams and we have dreams too,” Ms. Alcorn said Thursday during a Telsa birthday celebration. “Tesla’s laboratory behind us will house the Nikola Tesla museum to inform visitors about Tesla, his inventions and their impact on our lives today.”

Last year, an online fundraiser called “Let’s Build a Goddamn Tesla Museum” raised $1.4 million for the museum.

Volunteers have since helped clear away debris, overgrown trees and shrubs at the laboratory site. A bust of Tesla has also been installed.

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