Thomas Edison 

By on

American inventor Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio on February 11, 1847. He was the youngest of seven children and received little formal schooling. Most of his education happened at home under the care of his mother, Nancy.

When he was young, Edison suffered from a bout of scarlet fever that left him with permanent hearing problems. In his late teens he was trained as a telegraph operator by a thankful station master whose son Edison had saved from being run over by a train.

At the age of 24, Edison married Mary Stillwell. Together they had three children, Marion (nicknamed "Dot"), Thomas Jr. (nicknamed "Dash"), and William before Mary died in 1884 from a brain tumor. He later remarried to Mina Miller who gave birth to Edison's younger children, Madeleine and Charles.

Edison possessed extensive entrepreneurial skills which led him to found more than a dozen companies, among them General Electric. His first patent was for inventing an electric vote recorder. However, the device was a commercial failure. It wasn't until he created a highly improved stock ticker that Edison began to make money from his inventions. His most famous and successful inventions, many of which were developed in his personal laboratory at Menlo Park, include the phonograph and the incandescent light bulb.

Thomas Edison died at the age of 84 on October 18, 1931. At his time of death, he held more than 1,000 U.S. patents in his name. In 1983, Congress designated Edison's birthday as National Inventor's Day.

Related Links

Our Wiki page on Thomas Edison



More interesting Notes:
Steven McFadyen's avatar Steven McFadyen

Steven has over twenty five years experience working on some of the largest construction projects. He has a deep technical understanding of electrical engineering and is keen to share this knowledge. About the author

myElectrical Engineering

comments powered by Disqus



What is a rectifier transformer?

I've recently come across this question a couple times browsing the internet. Decided to give a quick answer here. A rectifier transformer is a transformer...

Welcome back Bottle

‘Kept looking at a card, y’see? Kept looking at it. Welcome back Bottle. Gods below welcome home. The Crippled God A Tale of the Malazan Book of the...

How to Write an Electrical Note

Electrical notes are a collaborative collection of electrical engineering information and educational material. Any registered user can add content. ...

Dielectric loss in cables

Dielectrics (insulating materials for example) when subjected to a varying electric field, will have some energy loss.   The varying electric field causes...

Electric Motors

Collection of links to various places with useful motor information. I’ll try and return to the page every now and again to update it with any motor notes...

Low Voltage Switchroom Design Guide

Low voltage (LV) switchrooms are common across all industries and one of the more common spatial requirements which need to be designed into a project...

Photovoltaic (PV) - Utility Power Grid Interface

Photovoltaic (PV) systems are typically more efficient when connected in parallel with a main power gird. During periods when the PV system generates energy...

How to Size Current Transformers

The correct sizing of current transformers is required to ensure satisfactory operation of measuring instruments and protection relays. Several methods...

Famous Scientists

Here’s list of some famous scientists. Deliberately short, with the aim to provide a quick memory jog or overview. If your looking for more detailed information...

ABB Technical Guides - Motor Operation

ABB has produced a range of technical guides that offer concise explanations of the major technologies and technical issues in low voltage AC drives. ...

Have some knowledge to share

If you have some expert knowledge or experience, why not consider sharing this with our community.  

By writing an electrical note, you will be educating our users and at the same time promoting your expertise within the engineering community.

To get started and understand our policy, you can read our How to Write an Electrical Note