Thomas Edison

Inventor

1847 – 1931

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Who was Thomas Edison?

Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. Dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park", he was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production and large-scale teamwork to the process of invention, and because of that, he is often credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory.

Edison is the fourth most prolific inventor in history, holding 1,093 US patents in his name, as well as many patents in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. He is credited with numerous inventions that contributed to mass communication and, in particular, telecommunications. These included a stock ticker, a mechanical vote recorder, a battery for an electric car, electrical power, recorded music and motion pictures.

His advanced work in these fields was an outgrowth of his early career as a telegraph operator. Edison developed a system of electric-power generation and distribution to homes, businesses, and factories – a crucial development in the modern industrialized world. His first power station was on Pearl Street in Manhattan, New York.

Famous Quotes:

  • The three great essentials to achieve anything worth while are: Hard work, Stick-to-itiveness, and Common sense.
  • As a cure for worrying, work is better than whiskey.
  • I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.
  • Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.
  • The first requisite for success is the ability to apply your physical and mental energies to one problem incessantly without growing weary.
  • What man's mind can create, man's character can control.
  • Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits.
  • Waste is worse than loss. The time is coming when every person who lays claim to ability will keep the question of waste before him constantly. The scope of thrift is limitless.
  • Hell, there are no rules here, we are trying to accomplish something.
  • There is no substitute for hard work.

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Born
Feb 11, 1847
Milan
Also known as
  • Thomas Alva Edison
  • Edison, Thomas
  • Thomas A. Edison
  • The Wizard of Menlo Park
Parents
Spouses
Children
Religion
  • Deism
Ethnicity
  • Dutch-American
  • Scottish American
Nationality
  • United States of America
Profession
Lived in
  • Ohio
  • Edison
  • Michigan
Died
Oct 18, 1931
West Orange

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

Citation

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"Thomas Edison." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/thomas_edison>.

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