Are you curious to learn some weird and wonderful facts about Thomas Edison?
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Facts about Thomas Edison
1 – Thomas Edison was an inventor and businessman.
2 – Thomas Edison was born in 1847 and died in 1931.
3 – He invented the lightbulb, phonograph, and a movie camera. His inventions improved people’s lives by making life easier for them.
4 – He wanted to make electricity available to everyone so they could have more time outside in natural sunlight.
5 – He said this famous quote: “Genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration” – Thomas Edison.
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6 – He was the first person to record sound on a machine called a phonograph.
7 – The name “Edison” comes from his last name, which he changed from Edison’s family surname of Alsop.
8 – His mother died when he was young and his father abandoned him at age 12, leaving him in poverty.
9 – He became an inventor because he enjoyed solving problems for people and wanted to create things that would make life easier for everyone. In 1877, Edison invented the world’s first commercially viable incandescent lamp.
10 – He had more than 1000 patents, including the electric light bulb.
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11 – When he died, his last words were “It’s very beautiful over there.” Thomas Edison said this about heaven to Mina Miller Edison as she held him in her arms moments before death on October 18th 1931 at age 84 from complications due to diabetes mellitus type 2 and pneumonia following surgery for removal of prostate cancer; “I’m glad it wasn’t so long ago,” she replied softly–they had been married 54 years and knew each other since they were children–“it’ll be just like starting all over again.
12 – The first thing he ever invented was a telegraph machine when he was only 12 years old!
13 – His inventions changed society for years to come and led him to be known as “The Wizard of Menlo Park..”
14 – He suffered from dyslexia as a child.
15 – He spent much of his life working for Western Union Telegraph Company, which eventually became part of AT&T Corporation.
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16 – His middle name is Alva.
17 – Some people consider him to be one of America’s greatest inventors, while others argue that he did not deserve all the credit for his inventions because many were created by other scientists or engineers who weren’t given any recognition.
18 – His last patent was for a talking doll.
19 – He invented recorded sound and motion pictures. The first film he produced was called “The Great Train Robbery”.
20 – He founded General Electric Company (GE).
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21 – At the age of 12 he started working as an apprentice in a telegraph office and at 15 he became one of America’s youngest telegraph operators.
22 – One of his most famous quotes is “I never did anything worth doing by accident.” His favorite saying was “There are no two ways about it!”
23 – The first electric power plant in America opened on September 4, 1882 at Pearl Street Station in New York City.
24 – The first thing he made that brought him money was an electric vote recorder for Congress in 1869.
25 – His inventions helped shape modern society
He had an IQ of 160 which makes him one of the smartest people ever to live.
In 1877, Edison opened a laboratory in Menlo Park which would become famous for its inventions.
Edison’s patents have been credited with creating an industrial revolution in America.
