Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison is a inventor of many creations, and some we don’t take the time to realize. That’s why this site is here - to teach you about Edison’s inventions, history and more.

John Edison, great-grandfather of Thomas Edison, settled in New Jersey during the colonial era. In 1730 he bought a tract of land not far from West Orange, New Jersey. During the Revolution John was imprisoned and under sentence of execution, but was saved by his relatives. Later his family moved to Nova-Scotia, where they stayed until 1811, when they went to Vienna, Ontario.

Thomas Edison

Edison’s grandfather, Captain Samuel Edison, helped the British in the war of 1812. In Ontario, Samuel met and married Nancy Elliot. During the Papineau Mackenzie Rebellion, Samuel was forced to flee to America. Samuel decided to settle in Milan, Ohio. Later Samuel was a manufacturer for roof shingles and sent for Nancy and their five children to join him.

When the Edison family arrived, Milan was in a period of glory. Located on the Huron River and the canal, the town became a grain port. In 1847, 917,800 bushels of wheat were shipped making it the second largest wheat port in the world. Milan became a shipbuilding center, making 75 lake schooners in 1847.

Samuel and Nancy built a house, and Thomas Alva Edison was born in the house on February 11, 1847. Edison’s parents sold the house in 1854, and moved to Michigan. The Birthplace was out of ownership for forty years. In 1894, Edison’s sister, Marion Edison bought it back. In 1906 Thomas Edison became the owner of his own Birthplace. After Thomas died, his wife and daughter made it a museum.

Fact: Today, this National Historic site is maintained by the Edison Birthplace Association, a private, non- profit organization.

1868- Invented the electrical vote recorder.
1869- universal stock ticker, unison stop.
1872- motograph, automatic, duplex, quadruplex, sextuplex, multiplex telegraph systems, paraffin paper, carbon rheostat.
1875- discovered etheric force.
1876- electric pen for the first mineographs.
1877- carbon telephone transmitter, phonograph (Edison’s favorite invention).
1879- incandescent light, dynamos, generators, discovered a system of distribution, regulation, and measurement of electric current- switches, fuses, sockets, and meters1880- magnetic ore separator; discovered the “Edison Effect,” the fundamental principle of electronics.
1885- wireless induction telegraph.
1891- motion picture camera.
1896- fluoroscope, fluorescent electric lamp.
1900- nickel- iron alkaline storage buttery.
1914- electric safety miner’s lamp, discovered the process for manufacturing synthetic carbolic acid.
1915- special experiments on more than 40 major war problems.
1927- 1931- used a source of rubber for war emergencies.

Fact: To create the light bulb, Edison had to make seven different systems.