"... Thomas Edison was more responsible than any one else for creating the modern

world we know today....  No one did more to shape the physical character of modern

civilization.... Accordingly, he was the most influential figure of the millennium...." 

The Heroes Of The Age: Electricity And Man

Father of the phonograph, light bulb and motion picture…

““Al”Al”

Surprisingly, little "Al" Edison, who was the last of seven children in his family, did not learn to talk until he was almost four years of age.  Immediately thereafter, he began pleading with every adult he met to explain the workings of just about everything he encountered. If they said they didn't know, he would look them straight in the eye with his deeply set and vibrant blue-green eyes and ask them "Why?"

BiographyBiography

‘I have far more respect for the person with a single idea who gets there than for the person with a thousand ideas who does nothing.…’

‘The thing I lose patience with the most is the clock. Its hands move too fast.’

Contrary to popular belief, Thomas Edison was not born into poverty in a backwater mid-western town. Actually, he was born -on Feb. 11, 1847 - to middle-class parents in the bustling port of Milan, Ohio, a community that - next to Odessa, Russia.

Biography ContinuedBiography Continued

Thomas's father was an exiled political activist from Canada. His mother, an accomplished school teacher, was a major influence in Thomas’ early life. An early bout with scarlet fever left him with hearing difficulties in both ears, 

‘

Ruthless Businessman

‘Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.’

Noting that Tom's forehead was unusually broad and his head was considerably larger than average, he made no secret of his belief that the hyperactive youngster's brains were "addled" or scrambled. If modern psychology had existed back then, Tom would have probably been deemed a victim of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and proscribed a hefty dose of the "miracle drug" Ritalin.

A hyperactive child, prone to distraction, he was deemed "difficult" by his teacher

Home schooled…The Home schooled…The genius was discoveredgenius was discoveredHis mother quickly pulled him from school and taught him at home. Instead, when his beloved mother - whom he recalled "was the making of me... [because] she was always so true and so sure of me... And always made me feel I had someone to live for and must not disappoint." - became aware of the situation, she promptly withdrew him from school and began to "home-teach" him. Not surprisingly, she was convinced her son's slightly unusual demeanor and physical appearance were merely outward signs of his remarkable intelligence.

Curious Curious “Al”“Al”

. At age 11, he showed a voracious appetite for knowledge, reading books on a wide range of subjects. In this wide-open curriculum Edison developed a process for self-education and learning independently that would serve him throughout his life.More precisely, it was this his highly individualistic style of acquiring knowledge that eventually led him to question scores of the prevailing theories on the workings of electricity..... I accept almost nothing dealing with electricity without thoroughly testing it first." he often declared.

At age 12, Edison set out to put much of that education to work. He convinced his parents to let him sell newspapers to passengers along the Grand Trunk Railroad line. Exploiting his access to the news bulletins teletyped to the station office each day, Thomas began publishing his own small newspaper, called the Grand Trunk Herald. Because this was considerably more than enough to provide for his own support, he had a good deal of extra income, most of which went towards outfitting the chemical laboratory he had set up in the basement of his home….

“Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless.”

But his usually patient and tolerant mother finally complained about the odors and danger of all the "poisons" he was amassing, he transferred most of them to a locked room in the basement and put the remainder in his locker room on the train. Edison also used his access to the railroad to conduct chemical experiments in a small laboratory he set up in a train baggage car. During one of his experiments, a chemical fire started and the car caught fire. The conductor rushed in and struck Thomas on the side of the head, probably furthering some of his hearing loss. He was kicked off the train and forced to sell his newspapers at various stations along the route.

StrangStrange “Al”e “Al”Remarkably, years later and not long after he had acquired the means to have an operation that "would have likely restored his hearing," he flatly refused to act upon the option.... His rationale was that he was afraid he "would have difficulty re-learning how to channel his thinking in an ever more noisy world." Tom became totally deaf in his left ear, and approximately 80% deaf in his right ear. Poignantly, he once stated that the worst thing about this condition was that he was unable to enjoy the beautiful sounds of singing birds

The The fortuitous fortuitous eventeventWhile he worked for the railroad, a near-tragic event turned luck for the young man. After Edison saved a 3-year-old from being run over by an errant train, the child’s grateful father rewarded him by teaching him to operate a telegraph. By age 15, he had learned enough to be employed as a telegraph operator. Tom had pretty much mastered the basics of this fascinating new career and obtained a job as a replacement for one of the thousands of "brass pounders" (telegraph operators) who had gone off to serve in the Civil War.

“There is no substitute for hard work.”

He now had a golden opportunity to enhance his speed and efficiency in sending and receiving code and performing experiments designed to improve this device....Edison telegraph years  Once the Civil War ended, to his mother's great dismay, Tom decided that it was time to "seek his fortune." So, over the next few years, he meandered throughout the Central States, supporting himself as a "tramp operator". At age 16, after working in a variety of telegraph offices, where he performed numerous "moonlight" experiments, he finally came up with his first authentic invention. Called an "automatic repeater," it transmitted telegraph signals between unmanned stations, allowing virtually anyone to easily and accurately translate code at their own speed and convenience. In 1868, Edison returned home Upon the suggestion of a friend, he ventured to Boston, landing a job for the Western Union Company. At the time, Boston was America's center for science and culture, and Edison reveled in it. In his spare time, he designed and patented an electronic voting recorder for quickly tallying votes in the legislature. However, Massachusetts lawmakers were not interested. As they explained, most legislators didn't want votes tallied quickly. They wanted time to change the minds of fellow legislators.

Becoming an inventorBecoming an inventorIn 1869, Edison moved to New York City and developed his first invention, an improved stock ticker, the Universal Stock Printer, which synchronized several stock tickers' transactions. The Gold and Stock Telegraph Company was so impressed, they paid him $40,000 for the rights. Edison was only 22 years old. With this success, he quit his work as a telegrapher to devote himself full-time to inventing.

in 1871 Edison married 16-year-old Mary Stilwell, who was an employee at one of his businesses. During their 13-year marriage, they had three children, Marion, Thomas and William, who became an inventor. Mary died of a suspected brain tumor at the age of 29 in 1884. In 1887, Edison built an industrial research laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, which served as the primary research laboratory for the Edison lighting companies. He spent most of his time there, supervising the development of lighting technology and power systems.

“I never did anything by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work.”

Good from bad…the Good from bad…the industrialist and business industrialist and business

managermanager On a couple of occasions, Edison was able to turn failure into success. During the 1890s, he built a magnetic iron-ore processing plant in northern New Jersey that proved to be a commercial failure. Later, he was able to salvage the process into a better method for producing cement. On April 23, 1896, Edison became the first person to project a motion picture, holding the world's first motion picture screening at Koster & Bial's Music Hall in New York City.

PatentsPatentsThe patent was created to protect a person’s invention from being copied, sold or used without the inventor’s permission.

The first United States patent law was passed in 1790.

Since 1836 over four million patents have been granted in the United States.

A patent is valid for 14-17 years.Edison held 1,093 patents for his inventions.

Edison’s PhonographEdison’s Phonograph

The First Ever Recorded Message

• This was a combination of the telephone and telegraph.• Edison invented it to fit a need in the market.• Western Union needed a way to record messages sent by telephone, as it was not economical to slow down the messages to allow someone to transcribe the message.• Edison was working on the telegraph repeater and on turning voices into electrical signals when he invented the phonograph.•It was invented in December 24th 1877.

The PhonographThe Phonograph

The phonograph was a diaphragm attached to a heavy stylus. As the diaphragm vibrated, so did the stylus.

This scratched some tin foil paper mounted on a cylinder to make an indentation.

This was then replayed using a second stylus.It was later improved by using a wax cylinder, and sold commercially.Edison foresaw future uses of the phonograph, like phonographic books for the blind, music-boxes and toys, reproduction of music, and dictating letters so they did not have to be written.

Edison’s CompaniesEdison’s Companies

1859 Grand Truck Herald 1870 Newark Telegraph Works1878 Edison Speaking Phonograph Co.1878 Edison Electric Light Co.1881 Edison Ore Mining Co.1889 Edison Portland Cement Co.1896 National Phonograph Co.1911 Thomas A. Edison, Inc.

Final Final yearsyears

An uninhibited egoist, he could be a tyrant to employees and ruthless to competitors. Though he was a publicity seeker, he didn’t socialize well and often neglected his family. By the time he died he was one of the most well-known and respected Americans in the world. He had been at the forefront of America’s first technological revolution and set the stage for the modern electric world.

“Restlessness is discontent and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure.”

Thomas Edison died of complications of diabetes on October 18, 1931, in his home, "Glenmont," in West Orange, New Jersey. He was 84 years old. Many communities and corporations throughout the world dimmed their lights or briefly turned off their electrical power to commemorate his passing. Edison's career was the quintessential rags-to-riches success story that made him a folk hero in America.

“I never did a day's work in my life. It was all fun.”

Edison, considered one of America's leading businessmen, is credited today for helping to build America's economy during the nation's vulnerable early years.

Edison’s QuotesEdison’s QuotesOur greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain

way to succeed is always to try just one more time.Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how

close they were to success when they gave up.I have not failed, I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t

work.Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of

all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing.

To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.

More Quotes…More Quotes…

Your worth consists in what you are and not in what you have.

Anything that won't sell, I don't want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success.

To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.

Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.

Be courageous. I have seen many depressions in business. Always America has emerged from these stronger and more prosperous. Be brave as your fathers before you. Have faith! Go forward