of him at his laboratory, which was about 222 feet tall, and he tested out what we know as the tesla crown. basically by having lightning go off in the room because the tesla coil takes current that we get normally and increases the frequency to a point where it is in the numerous -- an enormous amount of voltage. one of the popular stories that came out of his experiments here was that he and his were working with light -- and all of a sudden, electricity filling his lab, creating thunder, it the top, and about five or six seconds, it went off. tesla asked why did you shut that off. and she said, i didn't. what happened was that he blew out the power plant in town. but in terms of the practical things that came out of his work here, he certainly laid the basis for x-rays, for fluorescent lights, and a things we have today and he was one of a scientists at that time that made a major contribution to the technological age we have today. >> all weekend, "american history tv" is in colorado springs, colorado. gold was discovered in the city ains surrounding the in the 1890's, resulting in one