Thomas Alva Edison Birthday Fun Facts

Thomas Alva Edison Birthday Highlights

Birth Name

Place Of Birth Milan, Ohio, USA Age 176 years old

Birth Date February 11 1847

Thomas Alva Edison Facts

Child Star? no Occupation Inventor Education & Qualifications The Cooper Union Net Worth $12,000,000

Current Partner Mina Miller Children Marion Estelle Edison, Thomas Alva Edison Jr., William Leslie Edison, Madeline Edison, Charles Edison, Theodore Miller Edison Parents Samuel Ogden Edison Jr., Nancy Matthews Elliot Siblings Carlile Snow Edison, Eliza Smith Edison, Harriett Ann, William Pitt Edison, Marion Wallace Edison, Samuel Ogden Edison

About Thomas EdisonThomas Edison was a famous American inventor.He is popularly known as the inventor of the light bulb. He has many more patents for inventions under his name.Edison was a curious child, and his curiosity only grew as he grew older. It became so immense that he was able to develop new devices through his experimentations in different fields. While his name is mostly associated with the invention of the light bulb, his first patent was for an electric vote recorder.Edison did not just focus on one field of study and business; he tried whatever interested him. For instance, he tried to establish a business revolving around ore-mining just because it had caught his attention. Many of the inventions and technological advancements made by Edison are greatly used even today, even though some might have been improved upon. Read this article about Edison to explore more interesting facts about Thomas Alva Edison.Childhood And EducationThomas Edison was born Thomas Alva Edison on February 11, 1847. He was born in Milan, Ohio. Edison was raised in Port Huron, Michigan when his family shifted here in 1854. He received only a few months of formal education before he started to learn reading, arithmetic, and writing with the help of his mother. He was noted to be a curious child. He used to learn about things in his surrounding by reading about them.Edison was highly fascinated by technology from a very young age and used to spend a large amount of time experimenting and examining any form of technology around him. When Edison turned 12, he developed a hearing problem. The reason behind Edison’s deafness was stated to be scarlet fever that he suffered in his early childhood, as well as recurring middle-ear infections that were not treated.Edison would make up elaborate stories revolving around his deafness. However, as he got older, he believed that the deafness helped him keep the distractions at bay while he worked.Later on, Edison admitted himself to a course in chemistry at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. Edison did this to get support for the new telegraphy system he was working on, along with Charles Batchelor. This was the only occasion for Edison to enter a higher learning institute.Family, Romance, And RelationshipsWho was Thomas Edison’s family?Thomas Alva Edison was the son of Samuel Ogden Edison Jr. and Nancy Matthews Elliot. While Samuel Edison was born in Nova Scotia, Nancy Matthews was born in Chenango County in New York. The couple had seven children together, of whom Thomas Edison was the youngest. Edison’s grandfather had lived in New Jersey and had been forced to run away to Canada during the American Revolution.Who was Thomas Edison’s partner?Edison’s first wife was Mary Stilwell. They got married in 1871 when Edison was 24 years old, and Mary was 16 years old. Mary had been an employee of Edison, and they had only known each other for a few months before they got married. The couple had three children together, one daughter and two sons.Mary Stilwell used to stay ill for long periods. After she died in 1884, Edison remained single for two years. He then got married to Mina Miller in 1886. Mina was Leslie Miller’s daughter, who was also an inventor. Mina and Edison also had a family of three children. Madeline Edison was the oldest, followed by Charles Edison.Who were Thomas Edison’s children?Thomas and Mary’s eldest was their daughter named Marion Estelle Edison, who Edison had nicknamed Dot. The second was Thomas Alva Edison Jr., and he was called Dash by his father. The youngest of Thomas and Mary’s children was William Leslie Edison, who also went on to become an inventor later in his life.Edison’s oldest son from his second marriage, Charles, took over the business and laboratories after his father’s death. He also became the Governor of New Jersey from 1941 to 1944. Edison’s youngest son was Theodore Miller Edison, who was an MIT graduate in physics and had several patents under his name.Career And Professional HighlightsBest Known For…Thomas Edison initiated his professional career by selling newspapers, vegetables, and candy on trains. These trains that Edison worked in ran from Port Huron to Detroit. Whatever earnings he made from this job, he spent it all on buying equipment for his experiments. He was presented with a great opportunity when he saved a three-year-old boy from an oncoming boxcar.The father of the child he saved, JU McKenzie, showed his gratefulness to Edison by teaching him railroad telegraphy. That is how he became a telegraph operator in Port Huron. He did the job in various other places too. Edison continued to conduct electrical and chemical experiments. He even carried out chemical experiments and did a study of qualitative analysis on the train.After acquiring an exclusive right for selling newspapers on the streets, Edison began printing the Grand Trunk Herald with the help of his four assistants. He sold this newspaper along with other newspapers and thereby began his career as a businessman. When he turned 19 in 1866, Edison became an employee at the Western Union in Kentucky. After spending some time at the job, he left it or was fired, according to some sources.Edison then focused all his attention and energy on his inventions and experiments. The first invention of Edison that was patented was the electric vote recorder in 1869. However, when he realized there was little demand for the machine, he moved to New York to live with his mentor and friend, Franklin Leonard Pope. During this time, Edison was employed in the Gold Indicator Company for Samuel Laws.Edison, along with Franklin Pope and James Ashley, established Pope, Edison, and Co., where they posed as electrical engineers. After receiving an offer for improvement on the telegraph and a partnership with the Gold and Stock Telegraph Co., Edison founded the Newark Telegraph Works in New Jersey. In 1874, he started working with Western Union on a multiplex telegraphic system. This process led to the development of a quadruplex telegraph. Due to certain issues, there was a dispute between Edison and Western Union.In 1875, in addition to the telegraph, he also created an electric pen. Then in 1876, Thomas Edison established an industrial research laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. The laboratory was called Menlo Park laboratory due to its location. This laboratory was later dubbed as the invention factory due to the constant experiments and inventions taking place in it.In 1877, Edison developed a telephone transmitter that was considered to be an improvement on the telephone design of Alexander Graham Bell. Edison’s transmitter could transmit voices at a higher volume and with higher clarity. Due to his work with the telegraph and the telephone, Edison was able to invent the phonograph in the same year. He thus created the Edison Speaking Phonograph Company in 1878. But soon, he turned his attention elsewhere.He then focused on the electric light system. He founded The Edison Electric Light Co. in order to experiment with electric light and have control over the patents that resulted from the experiments. Not only did the Menlo Park lab develop the incandescent light bulb, but it also designed an electric lighting system that had the power to be supported in a city.In 1881, Edison established an electric light factory in the east sector of Newark, New Jersey. He then set up another laboratory in New York in 1882. The merger between Thomson-Houston and Edison General Electric Co. took place in 1892. The merger changed the name of the company to just General Electric.After remarrying and shifting to West Orange in New Jersey, Edison set up another laboratory in West Orange. This facility was larger and had more to offer. Edison also became interested in ore-mining and tried his hand at the field. However, it failed as the market for the material went down. He also tried to promote cement and construction using cement, but this endeavor proved to be a failure too.Edison and Eadweard Muybridge met in 1888 at West Orange. There he looked at Muybridge’s zoopraxiscope. Edison was asked to work together on this device, but he declined and decided to make his own motion pictures device. It was a motion picture camera, and the task of creating it was given to William K. L. Dickson. Through much trial and error, he was able to create two different devices; a motion picture camera called Kinetograph and a motion picture peephole viewer called Kinetoscope.The various companies established by Edison were renamed Thomas A. Edison, Inc. in 1911. He made a lot of progress with his research, especially naval research during the time of the world war. By 1920, Edison’s health started to worsen. He went into a coma on October 14, 1981, and died four days later, on October 18, at his mansion in West Orange.Thomas Edison was a famous American inventor who is still appreciated for the technology he introduced. One of his most popular inventions was the incandescent light bulb. This electric light bulb had a long-lasting life due to the carbonized thread filament. His electric lights also went over to the European countries due to their popularity. Edison was also popular for his device of motion pictures and his invention of electric vehicles containing alkaline storage batteries. He built quite a few laboratories, one of them being the one at the Menlo Park, where he carried out his experiments and developed his inventions.What awards did Thomas Edison win?Thomas Edison was greatly acclaimed for all inventions he created. He received the Matteucci Medal in 1887. He also received the John Scott medal from Philadelphia City Council in 1889. Edison got the Edward Longstreth Medal from the Franklin Institute in 1899. He also became the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences’ member in 1890.In 1904, at the Lousiana Purchase Exposition World’s Fair, he received the honor of being an Honourable Consulting Engineer. He received the John Fritz Medal of the American Association of Engineering Societies in 1908. Then in 1915, he was awarded The Franklin Institute’s, Franklin Medal. He was the recipient of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal in 1920, which was awarded to him by the United States Navy.An Edison Medal was created by the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in 1923, and it was first awarded to Edison himself. He also received membership to the National Academy of Sciences in 1927. He was also awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1928. The induction of Edison to the New Jersey Hall of Fame took place in 2008. Then in 2010, he was awarded a Technical Grammy Award. He was also made a part of the Entrepreneur Walk of Fame in 2011.Thomas Edison’s Hobbies And InterestsRight from his early childhood, Thomas Edison was very passionate about experimenting. He used to conduct chemical and electrical experiments whenever he got the chance. In addition to experimenting, another great interest of Edison was reading. He gathered all his knowledge about anything through extensive reading. It is believed that he was so passionate about experiments and inventions that he would only have a single focus and even forget to take care of himself.Other Interesting Thomas Edison Facts And TriviaIn addition to General Electric, Edison had also founded other companies such as Edison Machine Works, Edison Lamp Works, and Edison Electric Tube Company.The electric light system that was designed by Edison and his colleagues was first tried at Paul Street, located in Lower Manhattan’s financial district, in 1882.Thomas Paine’s ‘The Age Of Reason’ had greatly influenced Edison when he read it.He also supported the Women’s Suffrage Movement and believed that women should have the right to vote too.He had been an advisor to the United States Naval Forces during the First World War.While his advice had not been heeded very seriously, he still got the chance to study naval technology.Union College had awarded him with an honorary doctorate in 1878.There are various places and institutions named after Edison like the Thomas Edison State University, Edison State College, Edison Community College, Mount Edison, Edison Bridge in different states, and Hotel Edison.There are also various museums and memorials created in honor of the great inventor.The induction of Edison to the Automotive Hall of Fame took place in 1969.The town where Edison used to live has been renamed Edison, and the Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower and Museum has been established there.He has appeared as a character in many movies, video games, comics, and novels.Through his inventions, Edison was made into an icon that has appeared in popular culture since his lifetime to the current age.Interestingly, in pop culture, he is often portrayed in an adversary role against Nikola Tesla.His inventions have made a great impact on the industrialized and modern world.Menlo Park laboratory is considered to be the first-ever industrial research lab to be established.He was also one of the first inventor who made use of organized science and its principles to work out experiments, and he also used teamwork to achieve results.He also set up a botanical laboratory, in Fort Myers located in Florida, through a business collaboration with Harvey S. Firestone and Henry Ford.In the United States, he holds 1,093 patents. He also has many more patents under his name from other countries.His death in 1931 was caused due to certain complications of diabetes.It is believed that he was fired from West Union due to an incident he caused in the office of his boss.It is known that he used to conduct an experiment anywhere and anytime he got a chance.He had also been carrying out certain experiments while staying at home during the time he was ill.The device that got him his first financial success was the Quadruplex telegraph.In the latter years, he did not see the day-to-day activities of the companies he created, but rather had a more decision-making role.Almost all patents under Edison’s name were utility patents being of chemical, electrical, or mechanical nature.There were also instances where he had to take specific people and companies to a court or vice versa in regards to the inventions and their improvements.We would love your help! If you have a photo of Thomas Alva Edison, either of them alone or a selfie that you would be happy to share, please send it to [email protected].If you have knowledge or information that you think would help us improve this article, please contact us.

Thomas Alva Edison Birthday Highlights

Birth Name

Place Of Birth Milan, Ohio, USA Age 176 years old

Birth Date February 11 1847

Thomas Alva Edison Facts

Child Star? no Occupation Inventor Education & Qualifications The Cooper Union Net Worth $12,000,000

Thomas Edison was a famous American inventor.He is popularly known as the inventor of the light bulb. He has many more patents for inventions under his name.Edison was a curious child, and his curiosity only grew as he grew older. It became so immense that he was able to develop new devices through his experimentations in different fields. While his name is mostly associated with the invention of the light bulb, his first patent was for an electric vote recorder.Edison did not just focus on one field of study and business; he tried whatever interested him. For instance, he tried to establish a business revolving around ore-mining just because it had caught his attention. Many of the inventions and technological advancements made by Edison are greatly used even today, even though some might have been improved upon. Read this article about Edison to explore more interesting facts about Thomas Alva Edison.

Thomas Alva Edison Birthday Highlights

Birth Name

Place Of Birth Milan, Ohio, USA Age 176 years old

Birth Date February 11 1847

Thomas Alva Edison Birthday Highlights

Birth Name

Place Of Birth Milan, Ohio, USA Age 176 years old

Birth Date February 11 1847

Birth Name

Place Of Birth Milan, Ohio, USA Age 176 years old

Birth Date February 11 1847

Birth Name

Place Of Birth Milan, Ohio, USA Age 176 years old

Birth Date February 11 1847

Thomas Alva Edison Facts

Child Star? no Occupation Inventor Education & Qualifications The Cooper Union Net Worth $12,000,000

Thomas Alva Edison Facts

Child Star? no Occupation Inventor Education & Qualifications The Cooper Union Net Worth $12,000,000

Thomas Alva Edison Birthday Highlights#

Thomas Alva Edison Facts#

Thomas Alva Edison Birthday Highlights

Thomas Alva Edison Facts