Thomas Alva Edison...

"GENIUS"

 Edison designed over a thousand inventions: the simple light bulb, the phonograph, the movie projector. Without these things, lights wouldn't work, CD players wouldn't have been developed, and movie theaters couldn't show movies.

Thomas's story began over 100 years ago in the small town of Milan, Ohio.  Even though he was only 10, Thomas asked lots of questions and wanted to know how things worked.  He studied chemistry and electricity in his own basement laboratory, and even built and operated a telegraph set!

In 1868, when Thomas was 21 years old, he worked at Boston's Western Union Telegraph Company.  Eager to work on his own inventions and ideas, he gave up his job to freelance as an inventor.  His first patent was for an electrical vote recorder.

Even though no one wanted to buy his machine, Thomas didn't consider it a failure. In fact, he used to say, "Every wrong attempt discarded is a step forward." This basically means learn by what you do and try again.

Thomas's big break came the following summer during a crisis at the New York Gold Exchange. Their new telegraph machine, which sent gold prices, broke down and Thomas was asked to fix it. He did such a good job, the owners asked him to improve Wall Street's stock ticker. He built the Edison Universal Stock Printer which earned him $40,000—a fortune in those days!

Thomas used the money to open a factory that produced stock tickers and high speed telegraphs. Later, he set up a laboratory where he could work on his inventions full time.

For the next few years, Thomas developed hundreds of inventions, sometimes working on 40 different projects at a time! In 1879, he unveiled his most famous invention—the incandescent light bulb powered by electricity. This replaced the inefficient and dangerous gas-powered lights used in those days to illuminate homes and streets.

The world was taken with this new, inexpensive way of lighting and many companies bought licenses to use the patent. That's how Edison International got its name: from using Thomas Edison's electric lighting system.
 

Incandescent Light Bulb

Edison's Workshop in
 Menlo Park, New Jersey

By 1887, Thomas had outgrown his workshop, so he built the Edison Laboratory: 10 times larger than before with factories employing up to 5,000 people. They produced many new products, including the phonograph, the mimeograph, alkaline batteries, dictating machine, movie cameras, and projectors.
 

As he grew older, Thomas never gave up inventing. During World War I, he helped the government develop all sorts of devices for the navy. He also designed a major part of the telephone-without it you couldn't call your friends!

The first phonograph

Thomas Alva Edison died on October 18, 1931. He was 84 years old. The whole world was changed by his inventions, which today still make our lives easier and more pleasurable.

He really is an Energy Hero — one of the greatest and most inventive men who ever lived!
 

For a list of Edison's inventions, click here.

Click here for definitions to some of the new words listed above.