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Tesla is granted U.S. Patent 645,576 for a system of transmission of electrical energy

On 20 March 1900 the United States issued Patent 645,576 to Tesla for a system of transmission of electrical energy, filed 1897, covering wireless coupling of tuned circuits. The 1943 Supreme Court later discussed this patent among prior art to Marconi. In the causal graph this event strengthens Energy Security, a driver that strengthens Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) (% of population) — a worsening welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

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On 20 March 1900 the United States issued Patent 645,576 to Tesla for a system of transmission of electrical energy, filed 1897, covering wireless coupling of tuned circuits. The 1943 Supreme Court later discussed this patent among prior art to Marconi. This Fact is the grant, not a working global power grid.

Patent 645,576 for a system of transmission of electrical energy (1900-03-20).

Context

Colorado Springs experiments are a separate overclaim row. Wardenclyffe is a separate failure row. The patent can be a real radio-relevant instrument without proving earth-resonance power at city scale.

Nikola Tesla is not the sole author of every later object, law, or museum label that uses the name. Shared work with courts, excavators, printers, spouses, officials, and later states does not erase a documented role, and it does not make an ancient person the signer of a twentieth-century statute.

Why it matters

Communications-method path. High confidence on the patent; low on delivered wireless power.

A patent is not a tower that worked. Split grant and demolition.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Nikola Tesla

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.7 · verified

    He is the named inventor of the 1900 wireless-transmission patent. Commercial radio later used overlapping four-circuit ideas shared with Lodge and others.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactTesla is granted U.S. Patent 645,576 for a system of transmission of electrical energy
    2. strengthensDriverEnergy Security
    3. strengthensIndicators (4)Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) (% of population)
    Mixed path

    impact weight 0.55 · Effect from 20 March 1900 · verified

    A patented four-circuit wireless method is a communications-and-energy instrument on paper; utility-scale wireless power is not established by the grant.

    • Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) (% of population)

      via Energy Security

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.34 (weight 0.55 × strength 0.62)

      Observed

      10.4% · 10.2 above the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      7 readings, 2018–2024: fell from 11.1% to 10.4%.

      Above normal = worse

    • Inability to keep home adequately warm

      via Energy Security

      Better

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.33 (weight 0.55 × strength 0.6)

      Observed

      7.97% of population aged 16 years or over · 5.2 above the normal line (2025)

      Worse than normal

      8 readings, 2018–2025: rose from 7.77% of population aged 16 years or over to 7.97% of population aged 16 years or over.

      Above normal = worse

    • Access to electricity (share of world population)

      via Energy Security

      Better

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.28 (weight 0.55 × strength 0.5)

      Observed

      91.6% of population · 8.4 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      4 readings, 2020–2023: rose from 90.4% of population to 91.6% of population.

      Above normal = better

    All indicators on this path (4)

    • Life expectancy at birth

      via Energy Security

      Worse

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.26 (weight 0.55 × strength 0.48)

      Observed

      80 Years · 2.3 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      6 readings, 2018–2023: rose from 79.5 Years to 80 Years.

      Above normal = better

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.U.S. Reports: Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co. v. U.S., 320 U.S. 1 (1943)Library of Congress · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.U.S. Patent 645,576 — System of Transmission of Electrical Energy (1900)United States Patent and Trademark Office / Google Patents · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

The patent is official. The Library of Congress U.S. Reports copy of Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co. v. United States independently places Tesla’s 645,576 in the judicial file.

Established: U.S. Patent 645,576 on 20 March 1900. Not established: that usable megawatts were transmitted without wires to a city, or that the 1943 Court named Tesla the unique inventor of radio.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorNikola Tesla
  2. contributed toFactTesla is granted U.S. Patent 645,576 for a system of transmission of electrical energy
  3. strengthensDriverEnergy Security
  4. strengthensIndicatorPoverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) (% of population)

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Tesla is granted U.S. Patent 645,576 for a system of transmission of electrical energy. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/us-tesla-wireless-patent-1900

https://factrail.ai/facts/us-tesla-wireless-patent-1900

Accessed 15 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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