Thomas Edison facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Thomas Alva Edison
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"Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration."
– Thomas Alva Edison, Harper's Monthly (September 1932) |
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| Born | February 11, 1847 |
| Died | October 18, 1931 (aged 84) West Orange, New Jersey, United States
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| Cause of death | Diabetes |
| Occupation | Inventor, scientist, businessman |
| Spouse(s) |
Mary Stilwell
(m. 1871–1884)Mina Edison
(m. 1886–1931) |
| Children | Marion Estelle Edison (1873–1965) Thomas Alva Edison Jr. (1876–1935) William Leslie Edison (1878–1937) Madeleine Edison (1888–1979) Charles Edison (1890–1969) Theodore Miller Edison (1898–1992) |
| Parent(s) | Samuel Ogden Edison, Jr. (1804–1896) Nancy Matthews Elliott (1810–1871) |
| Relatives | Lewis Miller (father-in-law) |
Thomas Edison (born February 11, 1847 – died October 18, 1931) was a famous American inventor and businessman. He created many important things that changed the world. While he didn't invent the first light bulb, he made one that worked much better. Edison received 1,093 patents for his inventions. This was more than any other inventor at that time. He also started the General Electric Company to make some of his inventions. He passed away from a disease called diabetes.
Contents
Edison's Early Life and Learning
Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio. When he was seven, his family moved to Port Huron, Michigan. Thomas started school a bit late because he was sick. After only three months, he left school. He found it hard to pay attention to his teacher.
Luckily, his mother had been a teacher in Canada. She taught Thomas at home. His mother helped him love learning and exploring new ideas.
Facing Challenges and Finding Work
When Thomas was twelve, he got scarlet fever. This illness caused him to lose most of his hearing. He became completely deaf in his left ear and almost deaf in his right ear. When he was thirteen, he started working. He sold candy, newspapers, and vegetables on a train. He used the money he earned to buy things for his chemistry and electricity experiments.
One day, Edison saved a young boy from a runaway train. The boy's father was very thankful. He taught Edison how to be a telegraph operator. A telegraph operator sends messages using electric signals. When he was sixteen, Edison made his first invention. It was called an "automatic repeater." This machine helped send telegraph signals faster between stations.
Edison's Amazing Career
In 1868, Edison moved to Boston. He worked for the Western Union Company as a telegraph operator. He worked long hours, twelve hours a day, six days a week. Within six months, he got his first patent for an electric vote recorder. This machine made voting faster. However, he couldn't find anyone to buy it.
Then, Edison moved to New York. He started working for a company, fixing their machines. At night, he kept working on his own projects and ideas.
The Menlo Park Laboratory
In 1876, Edison used money from his inventions to open his own laboratory. It was in Menlo Park, New Jersey. This lab became very famous. In just over ten years, it grew to cover two city blocks. Many important inventions came from this lab:
- In 1877, he invented the carbon microphone. This made the sound for Alexander Graham Bell's new telephone much louder.
- Also in 1877, Edison invented the phonograph. This was the first machine that could record and play sound. The phonograph made him famous all over the world.
- In 1879, Edison made a light bulb that lasted much longer than other light bulbs at the time.
- Another big invention in 1879 was the electric power distribution network. This system helped bring electricity to homes and businesses.
West Orange and Fort Myers Labs
After his first wife, Mary, passed away, Edison bought a home called "Glenmont" in West Orange, New Jersey. This was a wedding gift for his second wife, Mina. The couple spent their winters at a home they bought in Fort Myers, Florida.
Edison kept working hard no matter where he lived. In Fort Myers, he focused on rubber. He and his friends, Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone, started a lab there. Edison wanted to grow plants that could make rubber. This way, America would not have to rely on other countries for it.
During World War I, Edison suggested creating a science and industry committee. This group would give advice and do research for the U.S. military. He led the Naval Consulting Board in 1915.
Edison's Family Life
Thomas Edison married Mary Stilwell in 1871. They had three children together:
- Marion Estelle Edison (nicknamed "Dot")
- Thomas Alva Edison, Jr. (nicknamed "Dash")
- William Leslie Edison
Mary Stilwell passed away in 1884 when she was twenty-nine years old.
When he was thirty-nine, Edison married his second wife, Mina Miller. She was nineteen at the time. They had three children:
- Madeleine Edison
- Charles Edison (who later became the Governor of New Jersey)
- Theodore Miller Edison
Final Years and Legacy
Edison stayed active in business even in his later years. He helped develop the Lackawanna Railroad. He was there when it started and even drove the train for its first mile.
Thomas Alva Edison passed away on October 18, 1931. He died from problems related to diabetes. He is buried behind his "Glenmont" home.
Famous Quotes by Thomas Edison
- "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."
- "A genius is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her homework."
- "If we all did the things we are really capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves."
- "I have more respect for the fellow with a single idea who gets there than for the fellow with a thousand ideas who does nothing."
- "The world owes nothing to any man, but every man owes something to the world."
Interesting Facts About Thomas Edison
- Thomas's father, Samuel Ogden Edison, Jr., took part in a protest against British rule in North America. After the protest, he moved to America, where Thomas was born.
- Edison believed his poor hearing actually helped him focus better.
- As a child, Edison was called "Al."
- When Thomas was fifteen, he started printing a newspaper on the Grand Trunk Railway. It was called the Grand Trunk Herald.
- Edison's first two children had nicknames inspired by telegraph signals: "Dot" and "Dash."
- Nikola Tesla worked for Thomas Edison for a short time.
- Thomas Edison was sometimes called "The Wizard of Menlo Park."
- On December 31, 1879, the Menlo Park laboratory was lit up with electricity for the very first time.
- Edison enjoyed reading and reciting poetry.
- Edison even made a device to kill cockroaches using electricity.
- The Henry Ford Museum claims to have Thomas Edison's last breath in a test tube.
Timeline of Thomas Edison's Life
Here are some key dates in the life and work of Thomas Edison:
- 1847: Born on February 11 in Milan, Ohio.
- 1854: His family moves to Port Huron, Michigan.
- Around 1859: Starts working, selling newspapers and candy on trains.
- Early 1860s: Becomes a telegraph operator.
- 1869: Receives his first patent for the electric vote recorder. Moves to New York City.
- Early 1870s: Sets up workshops in Newark, New Jersey, working on improving telegraphs.
- 1876: Opens his famous laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
- 1877: Invents the phonograph, the first machine to record and play sound.
- 1878: Helps start the Edison Electric Light Company.
- 1879: Successfully shows a long-lasting incandescent light bulb (October 21).
- 1880: Gets a patent for his electric lighting system.
- 1882: Opens the Pearl Street Station in New York City. This was the world's first central electric power plant.
- 1887: Opens the larger West Orange Laboratory in New Jersey.
- Late 1880s - 1890s: Develops the Kinetograph (a camera) and Kinetoscope (a viewer) for motion pictures.
- 1892: The Edison General Electric Company joins with another company to form General Electric (GE).
- Early 1900s: Works on making a reliable rechargeable battery.
- 1914: His factory in West Orange is badly damaged by fire, but he quickly rebuilds it.
- 1914-1918: Works on defense projects for the U.S. Navy during World War I.
- 1931: Dies on October 18 in West Orange, New Jersey.
Images for kids
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Photograph of Edison with his phonograph (2nd model), taken in Mathew Brady's Washington, DC studio in April 1878
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Edison's Menlo Park Laboratory, reconstructed at Greenfield Village at Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
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Thomas Edison's first successful light bulb model, used in public demonstration at Menlo Park, December 1879
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U.S. Patent#223898: Electric-Lamp. Issued January 27, 1880.
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The Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company's new steamship, the Columbia, was the first ship to use Edison's incandescent light bulb in 1880.
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Edison's wife Mina in 1906
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Extravagant displays of electric lights quickly became a feature of public events, as in this picture from the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition.
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Share of the Edison Storage Battery Company, issued October 19, 1903
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From Left to Right: Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Harvey Firestone, the three partners of the Edison Botanic Research Corporation
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Thomas A. Edison Industries Exhibit, Primary Battery section, 1915
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Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Harvey Firestone, respectively. Ft. Myers, Florida, February 11, 1929
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Portrait of Edison by Abraham Archibald Anderson (1890), National Portrait Gallery
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Thomas Edison commemorative stamp, issued in 1947, on the 100th anniversary of his birth
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Statue of young Thomas Edison by the railroad tracks in Port Huron, Michigan
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Edison in 1915
See also
In Spanish: Thomas Alva Edison para niños
