Thomas Edison
The American inventor who held more than 1,000 patents and invented the phonograph and a practical electric light.
Life
Newsboy
Edison had only a few months of schooling. As a boy he sold newspapers on trains, later became a telegraph operator, and taught himself electricity. His first invention, in 1869, was an electric vote recorder, but nobody wanted it; from then on he only made inventions "that someone wants to buy."
Menlo Park
In 1876 he set up the world's first industrial research laboratory at Menlo Park, New Jersey, earning the nickname "the Wizard of Menlo Park." In 1877 he invented the phonograph, and in 1879 he produced a carbon-filament bulb that could glow continuously; he then built the first commercial power station in New York.
Electric light
Over his lifetime he obtained more than 1,000 U.S. patents and also advanced the development of the motion-picture camera. His battle of direct current versus alternating current with Tesla and Westinghouse is also famous. He died in 1931.
Legacy
Edison turned invention into organized industrial research and development, profoundly changing modern life.
Did you know? He said: "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration."
Key dates
- 1869Received his first patent
- 1876Established the Menlo Park laboratory
- 1877Invented the phonograph
- 1879Invented the practical electric light
- 1882Pearl Street Station in New York began operating
- 1931Died