THOMAS ALVA EDISON

Thomas was born February 11, 1847 in Milan Ohio. He was the seventh and

last child of Nancy and Samuel Edison. As a child he was very quiet, thoughtful

and inquisitive. Because he was not a hardy child he did not attend school until he

was 7. His teacher thought he was incapable of learning, so his mother who was a

teacher took him out of school and started teaching him herself. Thomas Edison had

only 3 months of formal education.

Thomas mother taught him how to think problems out in his mind for

himself and he also became an avid reader. he first read about chemistry and

experiments from an encyclopedia. His great passion for conducting experiments

taught him much scientific knowledge. Because of his knowledge other kids teased

and started fights with him. Thomas Edison set up his first laboratory in his

basement of his home in Port Huron, Michigan

At age twelve Thomas became a newsboy on a train that ran from Port Huron

to Detroit. He was given a place in the corner of a baggage cart where he could sell

his newspapers, magazines and candy. The railroad company also allowed him to

have a small laboratory set up in one of the box cars. in all his spare time he would

work in his laboratory or study chemistry and physics at the Detroit library. He also

printed newspaper in the box car laboratory. He was a good newsboy and had a

good business until one day when a bottle of phosphorus fell off one of the shelves

breaking as it hit the floor starting a fire. The conductor was so angry at Thomas he

boxed his ears and put him off the train. As a result of the boxing Thomas gradually

lost his hearing and was almost totally deaf in later years.

While working as a newsboy in a railroad station in Mt. Clemens, Michigan,

Thomas saved the stationmaster s son by getting him out of the way of a moving

train. The farther was so grateful that he taught Thomas telegraphy. Thomas worked

for the telegraphy for the next three years.

One day he fixed a ticker tape system for a New York firm and the manager

offered him a job. He worked for the firm until he was twenty three, when he had

saved enough money to open his own work shop. Between the years 1870 - 1876 he

had patented 122 inventions.

In 1871 he married Mary silwell. they had three children.

Thomas set up a new laboratory in Menlo Park in 1876. He hired assistants

to help him develop his ideas. During this time he started work on the first

phonograph and created a carbon telephone transmitter, which helped to make the

telephone commercially possible. In 1879 his incandescent lamp became a reality.

He became known as the Wizard of Menlo Park .

His wife Mary died in 1884 from typhoid fever. Heart broken he burried

himself deeper in his work and opened a bigger plant in Schenectady. In 1885 he

started work involving moving pictures which became the fore runners of todays

motion picture cameras and projector.

In 1886 he married Mina Miller. They built a home in West Orange New

Jersey and Thomas also moved his laboratory there from Menlo Park.

During World War 1, Thomas was president of the United States Consulting

Board. This board was formed to develop inventions that would improve the Navy.

During this time he created 39 inventions of military importance. These included a

listening-device for detecting submarines, an underwater search light, a

water-penetrating projectile, a devise for detecting enemy airplanes and a telephone

system for ships.

During his lifetime Thomas patented 1,300 inventions. He worked in his

West Orange laboratory until 3 weeks before his death at age 84 on October 18,

1931