Nikola Tesla was the father of alternating current (AC), which is the most common form of electricity today. Thomas Edison favored direct current (DC), the type of electricity in batteries.
However at the beginning of the 20th century, Tesla invented and had perfected a method of transmitting electricty via the atmosphere, known as the Tesla coil. This method of distribution, would have allowed our homes, buildings, and vehicles to run without the use of fossil fuels or wires. Simply put, free energy for everyone.
Edison favored a land-line wire method of distribution and ultimately won, because there was money to be made. The people with the money obviously weren’t in the business to fund a completely free method of power distribution. Ultimately, we ended up with a monthly electric bill.
Where do you think humantiy would be today, if we had adopted this free, unteathered method of power distribution?