“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work”(brainyquote.com 2014) .
These are the words of Thomas Alva Edison, possibly the most famous inventor in American
History. With 1,093 patents to his name, no one has even come close to his greatness. Thomas
loved inventing and never thought anything as a failure, even his mining failure, which was
possibly the worst of them all. He was affected by an interesting childhood, thus he had an
enterprising career, and was remembered with an amazing legacy (invention.smithsonian.org
2014).
Edison was born on February 11, 1847, in Milan, Ohio. His parents were named Samuel
and Nancy Edison. His family moved to Port Huron, Michigan at age seven. At age twelve he
began work at the Grand Trunk Railroad. He sold newspapers, candy, as well as other things on
the train. He was very enterprising, opening many stands and even published a newspaper
(invention.smithsonian.org 2014).
Science and math began to interest him at a young age. He was mainly homeschooled
because his mother did not like how the teachers called Thomas “addled.” At one point Thomas
decided to read an entire library. He did not succeed but he did read some of the advanced
mathematics and science books. He began being tutored but soon disliked very advanced and
complicated language and math. He then developed an interest in chemistry (thomasedison.com
2014).
While working for the Grand Trunk Railroad he built a chemistry lab in a baggage car.
He, unfortunately, caught the baggage car on fire and was ejected from the train at the next stop
(thomasedison.com 2014). Then one day something happened that changed his life. As an older
boy, Thomas saved the sta...
... middle of paper ...
...s A. Edison Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2014. .
"Thomas Alva Edison." Thomas Edison at Sterling Hill Mining Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. .
"Thomas Alva Edison Biography - The Edison Papers." Thomas Alva Edison Biography - The Edison Papers. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Feb. 2014. .
"Thomas Edison Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 4 Feb. 2014. .
"Thomas Edison's biography :: Edison Invents! :: Smithsonian Lemelson Center." Thomas Edison's biography :: Edison Invents! :: Smithsonian Lemelson Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2014. .
Thomas Edison only had 3 months of formal education, and his schoolmaster thought that Edison may have been retarded. And no one not even his family could envision that Edison would become the inventor that he would eventually end up to be. Born in Milan, Ohio, youngest of 7 children, Edison would often ask questions that his father and mother both could not answer. So naturally he sought out answers through experimentation. Through out his younger years Edison’s mother tried to make learning fun for him, describing it as “exploring”. At age 12 Edison had begun selling newspapers on a railroad line. After purchasing some old type, he soon began printing his own newspapers Grand Truck Herald, the first known newspaper to be printed on a train. However, printing soon halted due to the fact that Edison had set the boxcar on fire, and Edison along with his equipment was thrown from the train. At age 16 Edison got his second job as a telegrapher. He would have to signal Toronto every hour, and Edison thought this to be pointless, thus creating his first invention something to automatically signal Toronto every hour. At 21 Edison made his commercial debut as an inventor with an electric vote-recorder. It did not sell so thereafter he decided to concentrate his efforts on inventions that he was sure would be in universal demand. Then in 1869 Edison arrived in Boston, practically penniless he persuaded a broker to let him sleep in his office. Then when the broker’s stock ticker broke Edison was able to repair it where many others had failed. Amazed the manager quickly made Edison one of his superiors. Soon after Edison invented the printing telegraph, but before approaching the company president to sell the device he thought he should settle on a fair selling price, 3,000$. But Edison decided to let the president of the company to make an offer on his machine, which turned out to be 40,000$ Edison accepted the offer. After selling the patents for the stock ticker Edison had enough money to open his own workshop known as Menlo Park, it was here that some of his most important inventions were created. Of these were
(“Thomas Alva Edison Biography”) He was born on February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio. He was the youngest of seven children. Young Thomas had trouble at school so his mom pulled him out and started to home school him. At the age of 14 Thomas was working at a local railroad station. He sold candy, newspapers, and magazines. At one point he even started his own newspaper, which was a big hit for travelers. From 1863-1867 he traveled the U.S. as an illiterate telegrapher. And soon after became interested in science and electricity. Then in 1871 he married Mary Stilwell. (“Thomas Alva Edison Biography”) According to Bio.com says that “They were happily married for 13 years and then had three kids, William, Thomas, and Marion. (“Thomas Alva Edison Biography”) Soon after he became an independent inventor in New York. He sought work as a telegraph operator. But due to his failing heari...
This paper will be an effort to explain about Thomas Alva Edison and his life before the 1900s. Thomas Edison was an American inventor, he was considered the most prolific inventor in American history and one of America’s leading businessmen who came from humble beginnings to work as an inventor of major technology. He was also giving public recognition as a participant in the production of helping build America’s economy during the nation’s vulnerable early years. Thomas Edison was born on February 11th, 1847 in Milan, Ohio. He was the last and youngest out of seven children of Samuel Edison Jr., an exiled political activist, and Nancy Elliott Edison, an accomplished school teacher. When he was seven years old he suffered from scarlet fever
Thomas Alva Edison was born on February 11, 1847, in Milan, Ohio. Thomas's father, Samuel, was an exiled political activist from Canada. His mother, Nancy, was a school teacher. As a child he got scarlet fever which left him to have loss of hearing in both ears. As he got older he was almost deaf. He was misbehaving in school, so he was home school by his mother. At 12, he started his own business selling newspapers to train passengers and started his own newspaper called the "Grand Trunk Herald". He saved a 3 year old from being run over by a train, so the father taught him how to use a telegraph. At 21, he went to Boston and got a job at the Western Union Company. That is when he designed and patented an electronic voting recorder to count
Thomas Edison’s father, Samuel Edison, had him to thank for his attitude towards life, science, and the world. Thomas Edison was taught to not accept any limits and to challenge
Thomas Edison is arguably one of the most prolific minds to ever walk the planet. There is no doubt that he was a genius when it came to innovation and that the world would not be the same place
I, Thomas Alva Edison, was born was born in Milan, Ohio on February 11th, 1847. I had seven siblings that were all older than him. My parents were busy people. My dad, Samuel, owned a lumber factory. My mom, Nancy, was a school teacher. I attended a school in Michigan, but I only went to school for no more than three months in his entire life. I was then home schooled by my mother. When I turned thirteen, I got my very first job as a newspaper boy. Since, I was a newspaper boy who worked by the railroad, I made my own lab that I could access from the railroad. I even saved a baby’s life after he almost got run over by a train. I opened my first ever real lab in Newark, New Jersey. I had over 300 workers working in this lab. After I opened this lab, I created a second lab. This second lab was in Menlo Park, New Jersey. This was probably the most important lab of my life because I created some of my most famous and most used inventions in this lab. Some of these inventions that I made here was th...
The year was 1878 was the beginning of Electricity. That year Thomas Edison had made the first affordable light bulb. That year he focused primarily to make a light bulb powered by electricity which was safe; something that scientist were trying to make and succeed since 1828 "Thomas Alva Edison." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2013.) With the help of J.P Morgan (financial banker) he founded his company. Edison soon later became quite famous around the world. His lighting systems were soon used to light the “Paris lighting exhibition” and the “Crystal palace of London” ("Thomas Alva Edison." History.com. ) Later on came in the “the battle of currents”
He was born February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio (Conot 3). Edison had a bit of a rocky start by getting pulled out of school and being almost deaf in both ears. He was the last of seven children in his family. His mother was actually a schoolteacher, and she had major impacts on his life. Early on in his childhood, he contracted scarlet fever, which caused him to go deaf completely in one ear and hearing impaired in the other one. Circa 1854, Edison’s family moved to Port Huron, Michigan where Thomas attended public school for about 12 weeks. He was a hyper child and was deemed a “difficult” student while attending the school. His mom quickly pulled him out and ended up teaching him at the beginning of his life on her own. When Thomas reached age 11, he acquired an almost insatiable appetite for knowledge (“Thomas Edison Biography”). Because of his hearing impairment, school wasn’t really an option for him. Later in his life he said that he liked being almost deaf anyway, because it allowed him to focus, and he could omit the distractions of everyday life. Edison ended up teaching himself and loved every subject. A few years later, Thomas had convinced his parents to allow him to sell newspapers to the ...
“I find out what the world needs. Then I go ahead and try to invent it (Sullivan 5).” These are the word that Thomas Alva Edison lived his life by. This is why he is known as the greatest inventor in Americas history. Thomas was granted 1093 patents over his life time. Some of the main inventions that changed the world are the electric light bulb, phonograph and movie camera and projector and much more(Jenkins 1). Thomas Edison is well known for his invention of electricity but he has made many more contributions to society.
Almost all of Thomas Edison’s life was spent spent enriching the world with his awe-inspiring ideas and inventions. Society would recognize him as the man who created the light bulb, but that was just part of his life. The light bulb breakthrough caused him to become one of the most influential people in the world. However, his introverted personality often caused him to work so much that he often didn’t see his family, thus resulting in an unstable family life, all because Thomas Edison was an inventing genius, but not a very social person.
Thomas (Alva) Edison was one of America’s most important and famous inventors. Edison was born into a time and place where there wasn’t much technological advancements. His inventions helped a lot of things quickly change in the world. His inventions contributed to many inventions today such as the night light, movies, telephones, and records and CDs.
Thomas Edison is widely regarded as one of the most influential inventors and innovators of the Twentieth Century. Edison’s efforts ushered in a new era of technology; a world in which electricity would be harnessed and made to bow before man’s will. Walter Lippman wrote, “It is impossible to measure the importance of Edison by adding up the specific inventions with which his name is associated” (qtd. in Baldwin 409). Edison’s decades long career was a synergistic melding of his success as an inventor and his prowess as a promoter and businessman. He exemplified the ideals of intelligence married to hard work and perseverance. He forever changed the landscape of American invention and the limits of technological change (Baldwin 409).
Thomas Edison was born on February 11, 1847 in Milan Ohio. Thomas Edison was one of most famous American inventor and businessman in nineteenth century. He invented many great and remarkable devices during that period. His most famous inventions such as the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and electric incandescent light bulb. Those inventions bring great influences around the world; also his inventions improve the society. During Thomas Edison’s entire life, he created more than 2000 inventions as well he acquired 1093 patents in the Untied States. Also Thomas Edison became a successful businessman. He manufactures his inventions and selling them to the markets.