Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American engineer and inventor, known for his contributions to the modern alternating-current electricity supply system. In 1887 he developed an AC induction motor, patented in 1888, and in 1891 he patented the coil that carries his name and became a United States citizen. Westinghouse showed his polyphase system at the Chicago world's fair in 1893. He set up an experimental station in Colorado Springs in 1899 and began the Wardenclyffe Tower, which was never finished. Wikipedia counts around 300 patents worldwide, and in 1960 the unit of magnetic flux density was named the tesla. He died in New York City on January 7, 1943.
Midnight, from a friend's biography
The Astro-Databank note quotes John J. O'Neill, "The Life of Nikola Tesla": "midnight between July 9/10, 1856". O'Neill was a personal friend of Tesla, so the database concludes he took the data from Tesla himself, and it grades the time B because a biography gives it without a record.
The clock is local mean time of Smiljan, about an hour ahead of Greenwich, since no time zones existed yet. The table adds the hours either side of midnight.
| Birth time | Where it came from | Rising sign | Moon |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00 a.m. July 10 | John J. O'Neill, "The Life of Nikola Tesla": "midnight between July 9/10, 1856"; rated B | ♉︎ Taurus 2°52′ | Libra |
| 11:00 p.m. July 9 | an hour before midnight, for comparison | ♈︎ Aries 5°45′ | Libra |
| 1:00 a.m. July 10 | an hour after midnight, for comparison | ♉︎ Taurus 25°27′ | Libra |
| Point | Sign at birth | In that sign | Before and after |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rising sign | ♉︎ Taurus | midnight to 1:13 a.m. | Gemini after |
| Midheaven | ♑︎ Capricorn | midnight to 12:56 a.m. | Aquarius after |
| Moon | ♎︎ Libra | all day | n/a |
Rising sign, midheaven and Moon calculated by us, Smiljan, Croatia, local mean time (UTC+1:01:16).
Sun and Venus on the floor of the chart
At midnight the Sun is at its lowest point below the ground, and that is what the IC marks. Here it is 16°39′ Cancer, with the Sun at 17°49′ just past it and Venus at 14°50′ just short, the two 2°59′ from a conjunction.
The IC is the traditional seat of roots, home and whatever lies beneath a life, so a Sun on it is read as an identity built from the inside out. By Placidus the Sun is in the 4th and Venus in the 3rd; by Whole Sign both are in the 3rd, which covers study. The Sun also trines Neptune, 2°33′ off.
Our pages: Venus in Cancer · Neptune in Pisces · 4th house · 3rd house.
Cancer faces Libra across two squares
The Moon at 14°01′ of Libra squares Venus, 0°49′ from exact, and Mars at 18°57′ of Libra squares the Sun, 1°08′ off. Moon and Mars lie 4°56′ apart and share the 6th house in both systems, which the tradition ties to daily work.
Squares keep pressing for action. Saturn and Jupiter join the four in cardinal signs, six of the ten bodies, and cardinal signs begin things.
Our pages: Moon in Libra · Mars in Libra · Jupiter in Aries · 6th house.
Taurus on the horizon since just before midnight
Taurus came over the Smiljan horizon at 11:54 p.m. on July 9 and gives way to Gemini at 1:13 a.m., so the recorded midnight falls 6 minutes into its stretch. An hour earlier the ascendant was in Aries, at 5°45′.
Taurus rising gives a steady, sensory first manner, and its ruler Venus sits beside the IC, tying the outer sign to the Sun's low point. Pluto at 5°33′ of Taurus lies 2°41′ past the ascendant and Uranus at 23°56′ follows, both in the 1st house under either system.
Our pages: Taurus rising · Uranus in Taurus · 1st house · rising sign calculator.
Saturn sextile Pluto, 0°01′ from exact
Saturn at 5°34′ of Cancer and Pluto at 5°33′ of Taurus are the nearest to exact of all their aspects here. A sextile is the friendlier angle in the tradition, one that helps only when used.
Saturn, the planet of structure and limit, sits in the 3rd house with Venus and squares Jupiter, 3°02′ off, so limit meets expansion from Cancer to Aries.
Our pages: Saturn in Cancer · 12th house · birth chart.
Capricorn overhead until 12:56 a.m.
The midheaven is 16°39′ Capricorn. Capricorn took it at 10:48 p.m. on July 9 and passes it to Aquarius at 12:56 a.m.
Capricorn at the top suggests a public side shaped by structure and long effort. It stands opposite the IC where the Sun sits, so Capricorn above and Cancer below share one axis.
Our pages: Midheaven in Capricorn · Capricorn · Sun, Moon and rising together.
All major aspects between the planets in Nikola Tesla's chart
- Saturn sextile Pluto orb 0°01′
- Moon square Venus orb 0°49′
- Sun square Mars orb 1°08′
- Sun trine Neptune orb 2°33′
- Sun conjunction Venus orb 2°59′
- Jupiter square Saturn orb 3°02′
- Uranus sextile Neptune orb 3°34′
- Sun square Moon orb 3°48′
- Venus square Mars orb 4°07′
- Moon conjunction Mars orb 4°56′
- Moon opposition Jupiter orb 5°25′
- Venus trine Neptune orb 5°32′
- Sun sextile Uranus orb 6°07′
- Venus square Jupiter orb 6°15′
- Mercury conjunction Saturn orb 7°26′
- Mercury square Neptune orb 7°45′
- Moon square Saturn orb 8°27′
- Sun square Jupiter orb 9°13′
Orbs: 8° for conjunction, opposition, square and trine, 6° for sextile, 2° more when the Sun or Moon is involved; Node, Lilith, Ascendant and Midheaven not counted. Same rules as our birth chart calculator.
Questions about Nikola Tesla's chart
Which sign was rising for Nikola Tesla?
Taurus, at 2°52′ Taurus. It rose at 11:54 p.m. on July 9 and gives way at 1:13 a.m.
Is Nikola Tesla a Cancer?
Born July 10, 1856, he has the Sun at 17°49′ of Cancer, 1°10′ past the IC.
Which sign holds his Moon?
Libra, at 14°01′, for the whole of July 10.
At what hour did Nikola Tesla arrive?
At midnight, in Smiljan, according to John J. O'Neill's biography. The chart uses 12:00 a.m. on July 10.
Which sign sits at the top of his chart?
Capricorn, at 16°39′ Capricorn, until 12:56 a.m.
Which aspect is nearest to exact?
Saturn sextile Pluto, off by 0°01′.
Sources
- Astronomy Engine: the open-source ephemeris library behind our planet positions, dates and statistics
- Astro-Databank (Astrodienst): published birth charts we test the calculation against
- How we create our readings: our own calculation of sign dates, positions and the 1930 to 2025 statistics
More celebrity birth charts
Charts closest to this one, sharing the Sun sign, the rising sign or the Moon: Ariana Grande · Sylvester Stallone · Lana Del Rey · Princess Diana · Robin Williams · Prince William · Anthony Bourdain · Margot Robbie · Frida Kahlo · Meryl Streep · Tracee Ellis Ross · Kevin Hart. All 143 charts with their sources and Rodden ratings: celebrity birth charts.
Astrology is a symbolic tradition, not a science. This page explains what the tradition says about the placements in a published chart; it makes no claims about Nikola Tesla's character, health or private life. Birth data: Astro-Databank (Astrodienst), checked October 20, 2026. Positions: our calculation with the astronomy-engine ephemeris; it matches the Sun, Moon and ascendant degrees Astro-Databank publishes for this chart to within one arc minute.