Thomas Edison

Born on: February 11, 1847

Born in: Milan, Ohio

Nationality: American

Career: Inventor and Businessman

Death: October 18, 1931

Thomas Edison was an American inventor and businessman, who is known for his inventions till date. During the course of his life, he filed for and held as many as 1,093 U.S. patents in his name, apart from many others in United Kingdom, France and Germany. One of the most prolific inventors of the 19^th century, he was once called "The Wizard of Menlo Park", by a newspaper reporter. Edison is credited to be one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production to the process of invention. This is the reason why the credit of developing the first industrial research laboratory goes to him.

Inventions

Edison’s career, as an inventor, started in New Jersey, when he invented automatic repeater and other improved telegraphic devices. During that time, he also set up the first industrial research lab, in Menlo Park, New Jersey. However, it was the invention of phonograph, in 1877, that made him famous as an inventor. The invention was so unexpected that soon, he was known as "The Wizard of Menlo Park". In 1877–1878, Edison invented and developed the carbon microphone that was used in telephones till 1980s, along with being a part of radio broadcasting and public address systems.

In 1878, Edison formed the Edison Electric Light Company in New York City, with financers including J. P. Morgan and members of Vanderbilt family. In November 1879, he filed a patent for an electric lamp, using "a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected to platina contact wires". The patent was granted much after Edison and his team had discovered a longer-lasting carbonized bamboo filament for the lamp. The year 1880 saw him patenting an electric distribution system and founding Edison Electric Illuminating Company, which set up the first investor-owned electric utility in 1882, on Pearl Street Station, New York City.

By 1887, there were 121 Edison power stations in the United States, delivering DC electricity to customers. Soon, the option of AC electricity started being suggested by George Westinghouse, which was fiercely opposed by Edison. With time, the DC system was replaced by AC. Though DC exists till date, it is only used in long-distance high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission systems. Edison is also credited with designing and producing the first commercially available fluoroscope. In 1891, he built a Kinetoscope, or peep-hole viewer, and received a patent for a two-way telegraph, the next year.

Later Years

In 1901, Edison visited the Sudbury area, as a mining prospector, and discovered the Falconbridge ore body. After being unsuccessful in his mining attempts, he abandoned the mining claim, in 1903. In 1906, he purchased the house in which he was born, in Milan, Ohio. In 1908, Edison started the Motion Picture Patents Company. It was a conglomerate of nine major film studios, popularly known as the Edison Trust. Thomas Edison was the first honorary fellow of the Acoustical Society of America, founded in 1929. In 1931, he guided the Project of electric trains in suburban service, from Hoboken to Gladstone.

Death

Thomas Edison was a man who made a great difference to the world, with his inventions. He left the world, for the holy abode, on 18^th October 1931. He breathed his last in home, "Glenmont" in Llewellyn Park in West Orange, New Jersey. It was the same house he had purchased for his wife Mina, as a wedding gift, in 1886. It is said that Edison's last breath was captured in a test tube, which is kept at the Henry Ford Museum. Ford is believed to be the one who convinced Charles Edison to seal a test tube of air, in Thomas Edison’s room, shortly after his death, to keep as a memento.

Answer the following questions: 1. Who was Thomas Edison? 2. What is he famous for? 3. Where was he born? 4. What inventions did he make? 5. What were his theories? 6. How did he die?