Thomas Edison

Thomas Alva Edison was born on February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio. Thomas was the seventh and last child in the Edison family. The night before Thomas was born there was a big snowstorm. The Edison family was worried that when Thomas was born he might have brain fever because his head was bigger than other babies.

There were nine people in the Edison family. Thomas’s parents were Samuel and Nancy Edison. He had six siblings, which were Marion, William, Callie, Harriet, Samuel and Eliza. Only four out of the seven children lived. Thomas did not play with his siblings because they were teenagers when he was born and they were about to go on their own. Mr. Edison was a salesman; he sold lumber, roof shingles and animal feed.

Many interesting things happened in Thomas Edison’s life. For example when Thomas was fourteen he saved a young child from being killed by a train. Another time Thomas and some friends made a club called the North Side Boys. They built underground tunnels in the neighborhood; one tunnel had a dungeon that had a table with chairs and food. He had his own small newspaper called the Weekly Herald which he published every week.

Thomas Edison’s Family started in 1871. It all began when he married Mary Stilwell. They meet at work in Edison’s laboratory. Mary and Edison had three children: Marion Edison, Thomas Edison Jr., and William Leslie Edison. In 1884 Mary died, Thomas and Mary were together for 13 years. In 1886 Thomas married Mina Miller. They kept on seeing each other at parties then they began to fall in love. They got married and had three children: Madeleine Edison, Charles Edison, and Theodore Edison. The marriage with Mina lasted the rest of Thomas’s life.

Thomas had quite a few jobs. First Thomas was a telegrapher. He was called a Tramp operator, which meant he often quit his job and found another telegraphing job easily. Thomas was the first man to make inventing a job. He was an Inventor. He had an invention laboratory where he invented many things and improved many things too.

Thomas Became famous from his inventions. It started out when he invented the electrical vote recorder in 1868. That made him a little famous. Then he invented the stock ticker which made him more famous. The more things he came out with, the more famous he became. By the time he died he was known as the greatest inventor. Before that he was called the Wizard of Menlo Park when he invented the phonograph.

Thomas Edison accomplished many things. Thomas was the first man to make the first dynamo. This invention brought electricity to houses. Thomas had more than 1,000 patents, which are the most anyone has ever had. He was the first man to record sound; this earned him the name the Wizard of Menlo Park. A lot of people think he invented the light bulb but he did not. He improved the light bulb. Other people made it but it was not very good.

Thomas Edison lived through some good times and some bad times. He lived from February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931. Thomas was alive when Orville and Wilber Wright flew the first airplane in 1903. He was alive when the stock market crashed which started the Great Depression in 1929. Thomas was also alive during World War One. Also he was alive when the R.M.S Titanic sank in 1912.

Thomas Edison had a huge impact on the world. A lot of people think he was a hero like I do. Thomas invented things that would help people with their daily life. He invented the phonograph, which was improved to tape recorders then to CD’s. Can you imagine no CD’s? He also invented a medicine called Edison Polyform. It relieved aches and pains. The ingredients were Cloves, Peppermint, Ether, Chloroform, Alcohol, and Morphine. If Thomas Edison weren’t born we would not have some of the things we have today.

Thomas Edison died on October 18, 1931. He was lived for 83 years. He was buried at Thomas Edison Historical site in West Orange New Jersey.