Thomas+Edison

=**__Thomas Edison__**= toc Thomas Alva Edison was a very gifted and famous person. He is known throughout the generations and was honored long after his death for his many inventions. He was married to Mary Stilwell, and had three children with her. Even though Thomas Edison only had 3 months of formal education, he still became the incredible inventor and businessman that we all know today.

Early Life
Thomas Edison was born on February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio. He was the last of seven children to his parents Nancy and Samuel. As a child, he was incredibly curious. Whenever he didn't understand something someone said, he would look them in the eye and ask "why"? Thomas also had a huge craving to learn. He would go to the library anytime he could. Thomas Edison had bad hearing, and was a very hyperactive child. His forehead was quite wide, and his head was much larger than average. This led to the belief that his brains were scrambled. But in later years, this belief was obviously proved wrong, since Thomas Edison helped the U.S.A. become what it is today, and invented some of the most important things in history.

Invention Number 1
Thomas Edison had a wide variety of jobs. Some of these jobs included working as a newsboy a candy butcher, and an operator in telegraph companies. While he was an operator, he conducted experiments with a telegraph apparatus. In 1869, he devoted his life to inventing things. One of the inventions he is known for is the Quadruplex Telegraph. Edison probably wouldn't have invented this if it weren't for Benjamin Bredder, who got him interested in the duplex telegraph. This machine sent two messages at the same time in each direction - on one wire. Edison didn't focus on anything else until he could figure out how to invent a quadruplex telegraph that sent four messages at once instead of just two. He was also reportedly starving to death, since he payed no attention to anything except his inventing. Finally after all his hard work, in 1874 Edison invented the world's first Quadruplex Telegraph.

Invention Number 2[[image:http://www.breker.com/images/edison_phonograph_idelia.jpg width="153" height="209" align="left" caption="Edison's Phonograph"]]
Another one of Edison's inventions was the phonograph, also known as the Edison Cylinder Phonograph. He finally finished it around November or December of 1877. The phonograph was a little bit like an old time CD player. It could record sounds, and then play them back to you. The first thing that Tom said into his Phonograph was "Mary had a little lamb". Amazingly, it played his exact words back to him! Edison knew that this was a great invention, but he had no idea how popular it would become. It was so popular, that soldiers were allowed to take a phonograph with them so they could have music with them during the war!

Invention Number 3
The electric light is known to be Edison's most famous and most used invention. In 1878, Thomas devoted thirty months to completing the electric light. Making a light with electricity was not a new idea. Paris had arc lights, which were harsh, noisy and smoky; they were usually used outdoors for these reasons. Edison's main idea was to build a light small enough to use indoors, and to pass electricity through a wire in a bulb. (Lightbulb!) The electricity heated the wire, which made it glow. Edison finished this incredible invention in 1879.

Death
In the 1920s, Edison finally began to slow down. He stayed at home a lot more, and read fan mail from his many admirers. Right before he died, Thomas Edison woke in a comma and said " It is very beautiful over there..." Then he died in West Orange, NJ at the age of 84 on October 13, 1931.