Facts about Thomas Edison

Thomas Alva Edison was born on the 11th of February, 1847 in Milan, Ohio. He was and is (even today) one of the most highly regarded American inventors. Edison's creations have helped to enhance the lives of people from all walks of life. He is responsible for the invention of several products that range from utility to the high-end sophisticated items. As a child, Thomas Edison was a dreamer. Experimenting and reading were his favorite pastimes. Here's a look at many more of these interesting facts on Thomas Edison.

Thomas Edison Facts

Edison invented things to help the world. He said that his main aim was to find out what the world needed and then go ahead and invent the same for the benefit and progress of all mankind. He also stated that his inventions were carried through with the objective of earning money, but only so that he could use that money to invent newer things. In this following section we will look through some of the interesting facts about Thomas Edison.

► Thomas Edison's first inventions include an electric vote recorder and a stock ticker.

► When Thomas was nine years old, he received a book on physics. Even then, Edison did not believe in all the experiments that were stated in the book until he tested them himself. He used the basement of his home to carry out all these experiments.

► Did you know that Thomas Edison was partially deaf? He developed this problem in his childhood days, after he developed the scarlet fever it is said. Though his hearing was impaired from the age of 12, he said that it did not bother him because it helped him concentrate better.

► He also invented the phonograph and the long-lasting light bulb.

► Thomas Edison holds around 1,093 U.S. patents as well as many other patents in the United Kingdom, Germany and France.

► Thomas Edison invented the Edison battery that made use of an alkaline electrolyte.

► He built his own science laboratory at the age of 10. This was built in the basement of his home.

► Thomas Edison invented the first incandescent light bulb in 1879.

► Thomas Edison started his career in Newark, New Jersey as an inventor.

► Yet another interesting fact about Thomas Edison is that at the age of 14 he saved a 3 year old boy - Jimmie MacKenzie from being hit by a train at the Grand Trunk Railroad. This is when the father of the child (who was a station official) was so grateful that he trained Thomas Edison to be a telegraph operator. Edison began to work for the Western Union at the same post sometime later.

► Thomas Edison's first patent was granted on June 1, 1869. This was for the invention of the electric vote recorder.

► Thomas Edison set up the world's first electric light power station in Lower Manhattan.

► Despite the fact that Thomas Edison has been such a great inventor, he had very humble beginnings. He even sold newspapers on trains and vegetables to be able to add to his income.

► With the invention of the phonograph in 1877, Thomas Edison soon became a known figure. He was thereafter known as 'The Wizard of Menlo Park' in New Jersey.

► Thomas Edison was famous for the following words, 'Genius is one percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration'.

► Thomas Edison formed the Edison Electric Light Company in 1878 in New York City. This was done with the help of several other financiers.

► He is also known as the first inventor to use the principles of mass production for inventions.

► Thomas Edison considered William J. Hammer as the pioneer of incandescent electric lighting. William J. Hammer was a consulting electrical engineer who assisted Edison in December 1879. He helped Edison with various experiments. (Phonograph, electric railway, telephone, electric lighting etc)

► It has also been said that Thomas Edison tested about 6,000 vegetable growths. This was for the purpose of filaments to be used in his light bulbs.

► Franklin Leonard Pope was Thomas Edison's mentor. He allowed Edison to live and experiment in his home in New Jersey.

► Thomas Edison had two tales about his hearing problems. Although it's said that he developed this problem due to scarlet fever, he had different stories to tell during his career.

► Thomas Edison also invented the carbon microphone between the period 1877-1878. This was used in all the telephones.

► One of the most interesting facts about Thomas Edison is that Edison failed at several ideas that he proposed during his career. One of these was the idea of building houses that had everything made of cement; right from bathtubs, beds to staircases. He set out to launch this project as a solution to the housing problems in New York by making them an affordable option for the common man. However, the idea failed and not a single house was sold from among the 11 concrete houses that were built. He also went on to build concrete furniture like pianos and bathtubs. These had no buyers either.

► Edison married his first wife Mary Stilwell at the age of 24. She was his employee. They had 3 children together. After Mary died, Edison married Mina Miller. An interesting fact about his marriage proposal to Miller was that he proposed using Morse code.

► It has been said that Edison suffered from halitosis (bad breath) and dandruff. He therefore put off most women that he was introduced to.

► While working on developing the fluoroscope, one of his employees - Clarence Dally, began experimenting with X-rays tubes at the orders of Edison. Since X-rays were not considered dangerous back then, Dally used his hands for the same. As a result of this, Dally had to amputate both his arms. He eventually developed cancer and died. Edison was completely shaken by this fact and stopped complete work on fluoroscopes.

For the scores of inventions that Edison has been credited with, there are an equal number of interesting facts of Thomas Edison to talk about. Hope this article has been able to shed light on the great inventor that Edison was.