Thomas Edison

Thomas Edisonwww.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thomas-edison-4395.php“Have you turned the lights on today?”  If yes, you have my hero, Thomas Alva Edison to thank!  He made many of the inventions we all know and love today.

Thomas Alva Edison was born February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio.  He loved to read and learned many things on his own. Although Thomas Edison is known as a great inventor, he only went to school for 12 weeks.  He was hyperactive and seemed difficult to teachers, so his mom home schooled him. At the age of twelve he sold candy and newspapers on a train.  Since Edison had access to the news as he sold newspapers, he decided to create his own newspaper called the Grand Trunk Herald. As he worked on the train, Edison conducted experiments in a lab he built on the train.  He did this until he started a fire on the train. The conductor hit him and threw him off the train. Then Thomas sold newspapers at the station.

While Edison worked at the station he miraculously saved a 3 year old from getting hit by a train.  In thanks, the boy’s father taught Thomas how to operate a telegraph. For Thomas, this was very valuable.  At the age of 15 he became a telegraph operator. For the next 5 years, he worked as a telegraph operator in the midwest.  Edison replaced soldiers who were fighting in the Civil War. The telegraph used Morse code. At first it was delivered on paper but more and more it used sound.  Thomas had a problem because he was partially deaf. He had had scarlet fever as a child that affected his hearing. It was thought his hearing was made worse because he was hit in the head by the train conductor.  He continued to read and experiment, especially learning more about electrical science. He moved to New York City and created the stock ticker called the Universal stock printer. Edison sold it for $40,000. This let him quit his job and become a full time inventor.

As a full time inventor, he first had a lab in Newark, then Menlo Park NJ. The lab in Menlo Park was known as the “invention factory’’ because Edison and his workers coming up with many inventions at one time.  Thomas was always trying to solve problems and thought failure was one more step to eventual success. In 1877, he made improvements to the telephone and made it louder and clearer to understand. He invented the phonograph, and although it was interesting, the popularity wore off.  Next he got the idea of designing a better light bulb. While many people think Thomas Alva Edison invented the light bulb, he actually made it practical and efficient so that many people can use it. Edison worked on motion picture camera, and worked with his friend Henry Ford to create a battery for a car.  During his lifetime he received 1,093 patents.