Thomas Edison was a famous American inventor and business entrepreneur. He has more than 1000 patents to his name. Many of his inventions have become an important part of our everyday lives. Edison started a number of companies.
Among them, General Electric is still considered a top-rated company even in the modern age. Many of his inventions were created because of his ability to organize and harness talent. He hired various people who developed, built and tested his creations.
Thomas Edison was born on February 11th, 1847 in Milan, Ohio. When he was seven years old, his family ended up moving to Port Huron, Michigan where he spent most of his childhood. Edison was not a very good student and eventually ended up getting home-schooled by his mother. He had an entrepreneur’s mindset and started selling vegetables and cigarettes on train stations.
One day Edison ended up saving a child’s life. The child’s father, J.U. Mckenzie, gave him Telegraph operator training. This was when he developed an interest in communication, which became the focus of his various inventions.
Later Edison moved to Louisville, Kentucky where he worked as a Telegraph operator. At a young age, Edison had developed hearing difficulties which created problems for his work. This was when he started working on an invention that would help make things easier for him.
In 1868, Edison started his career as an inventor. One year later, he moved to New York and worked with various major telegraph companies. The money gathered from the contracts mentioned above was used to open up multiple shops in Newark and New Jersey.
He employed several machinists who helped him with his inventions. Soon, Edison was being regarded as a first-class inventor. Stock tickers, fire alarms, and electronic telegraph were some of his notable early inventions. His major achievement during this period was the invention of the quadruple x telegraph, which had the ability to send two messages at the same time.
This was Edison’s first invention which made him famous. It was the first device that could record and play sounds. This invention became an inspiration for various others.
Although electric light was created long ago, Edison was the first one to create a practical item that could make full use of electricity. He created an item that could be manufactured easily and was perfect for home use. Edison also invented various other things such as safety fuses and on/off switches for light sockets. This made the practical application of light bulb very easy.
Edison created an item that paved a path for modern-day films. He created a motion picture camera.
On October 18th, 1931 Edison died at his home in Llewellyn Park in West Orange. The cause of death was due to complications from diabetes.
Edison had purchased “Glenmont” which was a house for his wife Mina and had given it to her as a wedding gift. His grave is behind that same house.
Timeless Thomas: How Thomas Edison Changed Our Lives Paperback – June 20, 2017
