Thomas Edison

On February 11, 1847, one of the most influential inventors of all time was born: Thomas Edison. He was born into a middle class family living in Milan, Ohio, to Nancy and Samuel Edison. As he grew, he developed the traits and personality that shaped his adulthood and inspired him to invent. At a young age, he had a thirst for knowledge of all kinds, and even though it took some patience on his teachers' part, Thomas became very advanced in his schooling, and matured very quickly.

At 12, he got his first job selling goods like newspapers and candy on the local train. He started making his own newspaper and distributing it when he was 14. Later, as the pre-Civil War debates began, Lincoln became Thomas's hero and he handed out photographs and campaign literature. All of the money he made went to the chemical lab he created in his basement. Soon, his occupation would meet an unfortunate end when the caboose caught fire and he was left with no job and a whack to the head.

Things got a little better when he saved a small child from an oncoming train, and his dad rewarded him with lessons on how to work a telegraph. Eventually, he became a master on the subject, and got many jobs throughout the central United States as a telegraph operator. When he finally returned home, he had made his first invention, the automatic repeater, and was broke. His mother was going insane and his father had just quit his job. Thomas became serious about his work and began laboring at Western Union.

Throughout his three years in Boston, Edison was in a constant fight to make money. He learned more about communication science from Boston Tech, and later, met Alexander Graham Bell and Benjamin Bredding. Once again, he was moneyless and in need of a place to live. Thomas camped out in the bottom of a New York Office building. When one of the workers needed a repair of some sort, they would call up Thomas. The $300 a month salary he received was more than enough to get him back on his feet. With all that money, he moved to Menlo Park, New Jersey and began working on inventions, the first of which being the phonograph. He and Bell were in a race to see who could invent the biggest and best technology of their time.

Edison pretty much won when he invented the first commercially practical incandescent light bulb. He then had a string of inventions including an electric light and heat generator, the first Vitascope, and the mimeograph. He had moved his large research and development lab to West Orange, New Jersey. Over the course of World War I, he designed defensive equipment for submarines. Overall, he had 1,093 patents, and was known worldwide as "The Wizard of Menlo Park." As you can see, he made great advances in many areas of science and communication, and is truly an American hero. On October 18, 1931, he passed away at 84 years old.