Thomas Edison
Born February 11, 1847 (Milan, Ohio)
Died October 18, 1931 (West Orange, New Jersey)
Inventor
Entrepreneur
Thomas Edison was a legendary figure in his lifetime, and even decades after his death in 1931 he is considered one of history's most significant inventors. Edison's enduring achievement in this realm was tied to the incandescent light bulb, but he also came up with a safe, efficient way to deliver the power that lit those bulbs. It ushered in a new era, changing the way the modern world lived, worked, and played. He also made improvements to the telephone invented by Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922; see entry), devised the first working phonograph, and made important scientific contributions to the early motionpicture industry. His accomplishments in the final two decades of the nineteenth century were so valuable that the period was once commonly called the "Age of Edison" in school history books for many years.
Thomas Alva Edison was born on February 11, 1847, in Milan, Ohio. His father, Samuel, was Canadian, but had fled Ontario after taking part in a rebellion against the province's British-appointed governor. In Ohio, Samuel Edison established himself in a lucrative shingle business, and he and his wife, Nancy, a former teacher, added three more children to the four they had brought with them from Canada.
This page contains 201 words.
Edison, Thomas article
Read the rest of this article.
This article contains 3,268 words
(approx. 11 pages at 300 words per page).
Order our Thomas Edison Article
