Thomas Edison, born in 1847, overcame hyperactivity, hearing loss, and poverty to become a famous American inventor with over 1000 patents. He was homeschooled, worked hard, and invented many machines, including the phonograph, dictaphone, and incandescent light bulb. He died in 1931, leaving a legacy as the greatest inventor who ever lived.
A young Thomas Edison, born February 11, 1847, displayed a hyperactive personality, suffered from hearing loss, and was at times nearly destitute. However, he overcame all those hurdles to become a famous American inventor, holding over 1000 patents. Born to middle-class parents in Milan, Ohio, Edison moved to Port Huron, Michigan at the age of seven.
At that same age, Edison’s teacher in a classroom school was frustrated by his constant questioning and rather disruptive behavior. Edison’s mother chose to homeschool him thereafter. When he became a voracious reader and showed a special interest in science, his parents hired a tutor to help him understand physics.
Even as a young man he was very hardworking, setting up a fruit and vegetable business and also publishing a newspaper. He used his income to set up a chemical laboratory. At the age of 15, Thomas Edison was trained as a telegrapher and created his first invention, the automatic repeater. In 1868 he moved to Boston to work for the Western Union Company.
When Edison moved to New York a year later, his first off-the-cuff assignment was to fix a broken stock rudder; he was immediately hired and offered a generous salary. Thomas Edison continued to moonlight during his years as a telegrapher. In 1876, Edison started a laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
Edison invented many machines. His first major invention, in 1877, was the foil phonograph. He also invented the dictaphone, the mimeograph, the storage battery, and the first commercially practical incandescent light bulb. He also invented the first movie camera and a grade recording machine.
Thanks to his life’s work and long list of inventions, Thomas Edison is dubbed the greatest inventor who ever lived, the wizard of Menlo Park and the father of the electric age. He continued to work on inventions until his health began to fail in the 1920s. His last patent dates back to the age of 83. He died the following year, 1931, in New Jersey with his wife Mina at his bedside.
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