Browse Information / Biographies /

Edison, Thomas Alva

Edison, Thomas Alva (1847-1931), was an American who can justly be called the world's greatest inventor. Edison only had three months at school and he taught himself everything he knew. At the age of 12, he began selling newspapers on a train, but still found time to experiment with chemicals and print a newspaper, theGrandTrunkHerald, in the luggage compartment. It was the first newspaper ever issued from a train.

Edison became a telegraph operator when he was 15. In order to check that operators working at night did not sleep, the telegraph company made them sends a special signal once an hour. Edison's first invention was a gadget connected to a clock that sent the signal automatically every hour, letting him sleep. He next invented an electric vote-recording machine, but politicians refused to buy it.

In 1869 Edison arrived in New York and found a job in a stock-ticker firm. The stock-ticker was a telegraphic device used for reporting prices, in this case of gold. When one day it broke down, Edison not only repaired it but improved on it in several ways. His employers bought his patents for a large sum of money.

This money enabled Edison to set up a workshop, where he improved both the typewriter and the telephone. His most famous invention was perhaps the phonograph, which he invented in 1877. This machine consisted of a revolving cylinder around which he wrapped a sheet of tin foil. Edison then placed a needle in the center of a diaphragm (which was a stretched flat piece of material) that vibrated when hit by sound waves, causing the needle to move on the tin foil. When Edison spoke into the diaphragm the machine recorded his words and was able to play them back. The first words that Edison spoke into his phonograph were 'Mary had a little lamb'.

Undoubtedly one of Edison's most important contributions to society was an improved electric light bulb, which could be used for offices and homes. After trying hundreds of materials to find the most suitable filament, he finally used carbonized thread, which caused the bulb to glow perfectly. Edison then set about producing a complete system for lighting a town. He invented or improved generators, motors, safety fuses and underground cables. The first central electric light power plant was opened in Pearl Street, New York City in 1882. Among his later electrical inventions was a system of transmitting telegraphic signals to and from a moving train or ships by induction. Edison also developed a motion picture camera, and improved the design of the telephone.

Edison was born in Milton, Ohio and died in West Orange, New Jersey. He received many awards for his work.