Thomas Edison · 2016-03-16 · Thomas Edison 2 Birthplace of Thomas Edison Historical marker of Edison's birthplace in Milan, Ohio Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October

Thomas Edison 1

Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison

"Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration."– Thomas Alva Edison, Harper's Monthly (September 1932)

Born Thomas Alva EdisonFebruary 11, 1847Milan, Ohio, United States

Died October 18, 1931 (aged 84)West Orange, New Jersey, United States

Occupation Inventor, scientist, businessman

Religion Deist

Spouse Mary Stilwell (m. 1871–1884)Mina Miller (m. 1886–1931)

Children Marion Estelle Edison (1873–1965)Thomas Alva Edison Jr. (1876–1935)William Leslie Edison (1878–1937)Madeleine Edison (1888–1979)Charles Edison (1890–1969)Theodore Miller Edison (1898–1992)

Parents Samuel Ogden Edison, Jr. (1804–1896)Nancy Matthews Elliott (1810–1871)

Relatives Lewis Miller (father-in-law)

Signature

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Birthplace of Thomas Edison

Historical marker of Edison's birthplace in Milan,Ohio

Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was anAmerican inventor, scientist, and businessman who developed manydevices that greatly influenced life around the world, including thephonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practicalelectric light bulb. Dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park" (now Edison,New Jersey) by a newspaper reporter, he was one of the first inventorsto apply the principles of mass production and large teamwork to theprocess of invention, and therefore is often credited with the creationof the first industrial research laboratory.[1]

Edison is considered one of the most prolific inventors in history,holding 1,093 US patents in his name, as well as many patents in theUnited Kingdom, France, and Germany. He is credited with numerousinventions that contributed to mass communication and, in particular,telecommunications. These included a stock ticker, a mechanical voterecorder, a battery for an electric car, electrical power, recorded musicand motion pictures. His advanced work in these fields was anoutgrowth of his early career as a telegraph operator. Edison originatedthe concept and implementation of electric-power generation anddistribution to homes, businesses, and factories – a crucialdevelopment in the modern industrialized world. His first powerstation was on Manhattan Island, New York.

Early life

Thomas Edison as a boy

Thomas Edison was born in Milan, Ohio and grew up in Port Huron,Michigan. He was the seventh and last child of Samuel Ogden Edison,Jr. (1804–96, born in Marshalltown, Nova Scotia, Canada) and NancyMatthews Elliott (1810–1871).[2] His father had to escape from Canadabecause he took part in the unsuccessful Mackenzie Rebellion of 1837.Edison considered himself to be of Dutch ancestry.[3] In school, theyoung Edison's mind often wandered, and his teacher, the ReverendEngle, was overheard calling him "addled". This ended Edison's threemonths of official schooling. Edison recalled later, "My mother wasthe making of me. She was so true, so sure of me; and I felt I hadsomething to live for, someone I must not disappoint." His motherhomeschooled him.[4] Much of his education came from reading R.G.Parker's School of Natural Philosophy and The Cooper Union. Edisondeveloped hearing problems at an early age. The cause of his deafnesshas been attributed to a bout of scarlet fever during childhood andrecurring untreated middle-ear infections. Around the middle of his

career Edison attributed the hearing impairment to being struck on the ears by a train conductor when his chemicallaboratory in a boxcar caught fire and he was thrown off the train in Smiths Creek, Michigan, along with hisapparatus and chemicals. In his later years he modified the story to say the injury occurred when the conductor, in

helping him onto a moving train, lifted him by the ears.[5] [6] Edison's family was forced to move to Port Huron, Michigan, when the railroad bypassed Milan in 1854,[7] but his life there was bittersweet. He sold candy and

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newspapers on trains running from Port Huron to Detroit, and he sold vegetables to supplement his income. Thisbegan Edison's long streak of entrepreneurial ventures as he discovered his talents as a businessman. These talentseventually led him to found 14 companies, including General Electric, which is still in existence and is one of thelargest publicly traded companies in the world.[8] [9]

TelegrapherEdison became a telegraph operator after he saved three-year-old Jimmie MacKenzie from being struck by arunaway train. Jimmie's father, station agent J.U. MacKenzie of Mount Clemens, Michigan, was so grateful that hetrained Edison as a telegraph operator. Edison's first telegraphy job away from Port Huron was at Stratford Junction,Ontario, on the Grand Trunk Railway.[10] In 1866, at the age of 19, Thomas Edison moved to Louisville, Kentucky,where, as an employee of Western Union, he worked the Associated Press bureau news wire. Edison requested thenight shift, which allowed him plenty of time to spend at his two favorite pastimes—reading and experimenting.Eventually, the latter pre-occupation cost him his job. One night in 1867, he was working with a lead-acid batterywhen he spilled sulfuric acid onto the floor. It ran between the floorboards and onto his boss's desk below. The nextmorning Edison was fired.[11]

One of his mentors during those early years was a fellow telegrapher and inventor named Franklin Leonard Pope,who allowed the impoverished youth to live and work in the basement of his Elizabeth, New Jersey home. Some ofEdison's earliest inventions were related to telegraphy, including a stock ticker. His first patent was for the electricvote recorder, (U. S. Patent 90,646),[12] which was granted on June 1, 1869.[13]

Marriages and children

Mina Edison in 1906

On December 25, 1871, Edison married 16-year-old Mary Stilwell,whom he had met two months earlier as she was an employee at one ofhis shops. They had three children:• Marion Estelle Edison (1873–1965), nicknamed "Dot"[14]

• Thomas Alva Edison, Jr. (1876–1935), nicknamed "Dash"[15]

• William Leslie Edison (1878–1937) Inventor, graduate of theSheffield Scientific School at Yale, 1900.[16]

Mary Edison died on August 9, 1884, possibly from a brain tumor.[17]

On February 24, 1886, at the age of thirty nine, Edison married20-year-old Mina Miller in Akron, Ohio.[18] She was the daughter ofinventor Lewis Miller, co-founder of the Chautauqua Institution and abenefactor of Methodist charities. They also had three children:

• Madeleine Edison (1888–1979), who married John Eyre Sloane.[19]

[20]

• Charles Edison (1890–1969), who took over the company upon hisfather's death and who later was elected Governor of NewJersey.[21] He also took charge of his father's experimentallaboratories in West Orange.

• Theodore Edison (1898–1992), (MIT Physics 1923), had over 80 patents to his credit.Mina outlived Thomas Edison, dying on August 24, 1947.[22] [23]

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Beginning his career

Photograph of Edison with hisphonograph, taken by Mathew Brady

in 1877

Thomas Edison began his career as an inventor in Newark, New Jersey, with theautomatic repeater and his other improved telegraphic devices, but the inventionwhich first gained him notice was the phonograph in 1877. This accomplishmentwas so unexpected by the public at large as to appear almost magical. Edisonbecame known as "The Wizard of Menlo Park," New Jersey. His firstphonograph recorded on tinfoil around a grooved cylinder, but had poor soundquality and the recordings could only be played a few times. In the 1880s, aredesigned model using wax-coated cardboard cylinders was produced byAlexander Graham Bell, Chichester Bell, and Charles Tainter. This was onereason that Thomas Edison continued work on his own "Perfected Phonograph."

Menlo Park (1876–1881)

Edison's major innovation was the first industrial research lab, which was built inMenlo Park, New Jersey. It was built with the funds from the sale of Edison's quadruplex telegraph. After hisdemonstration of the telegraph, Edison was not sure that his original plan to sell it for $4,000 to $5,000 was right, sohe asked Western Union to make a bid. He was surprised to hear them offer $10,000, which he gratefully accepted.The quadruplex telegraph was Edison's first big financial success, and Menlo Park became the first institution set upwith the specific purpose of producing constant technological innovation and improvement. Edison was legallyattributed with most of the inventions produced there, though many employees carried out research and developmentunder his direction. His staff was generally told to carry out his directions in conducting research, and he drove themhard to produce results.

Edison's Menlo Park Laboratory, removed toGreenfield Village at Henry Ford Museum in

Dearborn, Michigan. (Note the organ against theback wall)

William J. Hammer, a consulting electrical engineer, began his dutiesas a laboratory assistant to Edison in December 1879. He assisted inexperiments on the telephone, phonograph, electric railway, iron oreseparator, electric lighting, and other developing inventions. However,Hammer worked primarily on the incandescent electric lamp and wasput in charge of tests and records on that device. In 1880, he wasappointed chief engineer of the Edison Lamp Works. In his first year,the plant under General Manager Francis Robbins Upton turned out50,000 lamps. According to Edison, Hammer was "a pioneer ofincandescent electric lighting".

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Thomas Edison's first successfullight bulb model, used in publicdemonstration at Menlo Park,

December 1879

Nearly all of Edison's patents were utility patents, which were protected for a17-year period and included inventions or processes that are electrical,mechanical, or chemical in nature. About a dozen were design patents, whichprotect an ornamental design for up to a 14-year period. As in most patents, theinventions he described were improvements over prior art. The phonographpatent, in contrast, was unprecedented as describing the first device to record andreproduce sounds.[24] Edison did not invent the first electric light bulb, butinstead invented the first commercially practical incandescent light. Many earlierinventors had previously devised incandescent lamps including HenryWoodward, and Mathew Evans. Others who developed early and notcommercially practical incandescent electric lamps included Humphry Davy,James Bowman Lindsay, Moses G. Farmer,[25] William E. Sawyer, Joseph Swanand Heinrich Göbel. Some of these early bulbs had such flaws as an extremelyshort life, high expense to produce, and high electric current drawn, making themdifficult to apply on a large scale commercially. In 1878, Edison applied the termfilament to the element of glowing wire carrying the current, although theEnglish inventor Joseph Swan had used the term prior to this. Swan developed anincandescent light with a long lasting filament at about the same time as Edison,

but it lacked the high resistance needed to be an effective part of an electrical utility. Edison and his co-workers setabout the task of creating longer-lasting bulbs. In Britain, Joseph Swan had been able to obtain a patent on theincandescent lamp because of an oversight in the drafting of Edison's patent application.[26] Unable to raise therequired capital in Britain because of this, Edison was forced to enter into a joint venture with Swan (known asEdiswan). Swan acknowledged that Edison had anticipated him, saying "Edison is entitled to more than I ... he hasseen further into this subject, vastly than I, and foreseen and provided for details that I did not comprehend until Isaw his system".[27] By 1879, Edison had produced a new concept: a high resistance lamp in a very high vacuum,which would burn for hundreds of hours. While the earlier inventors had produced electric lighting in laboratoryconditions, dating back to a demonstration of a glowing wire by Alessandro Volta in 1800, Edison concentrated oncommercial application, and was able to sell the concept to homes and businesses by mass-producing relativelylong-lasting light bulbs and creating a complete system for the generation and distribution of electricity.

In just over a decade Edison's Menlo Park laboratory had expanded to occupy two city blocks. Edison said he wantedthe lab to have "a stock of almost every conceivable material". A newspaper article printed in 1887 reveals theseriousness of his claim, stating the lab contained "eight thousand kinds of chemicals, every kind of screw made,every size of needle, every kind of cord or wire, hair of humans, horses, hogs, cows, rabbits, goats, minx, camels ...silk in every texture, cocoons, various kinds of hoofs, shark's teeth, deer horns, tortoise shell ... cork, resin, varnishand oil, ostrich feathers, a peacock's tail, jet, amber, rubber, all ores ..." and the list goes on.[28]

Over his desk, Edison displayed a placard with Sir Joshua Reynolds' famous quote: "There is no expedient to whicha man will not resort to avoid the real labor of thinking."[29] This slogan was reputedly posted at several otherlocations throughout the facility.With Menlo Park, Edison had created the first industrial laboratory concerned with creating knowledge and thencontrolling its application.

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Carbon telephone transmitterIn 1877–78, Edison invented and developed the carbon microphone used in all telephones along with the Bellreceiver until the 1980s. After protracted patent litigation, in 1892 a federal court ruled that Edison—and not EmileBerliner—was the inventor of the carbon microphone. The carbon microphone was also used in radio broadcastingand public address work through the 1920s.

Electric light

Edison in 1878

Building on the contributions of other developers over the previousthree quarters of a century, Edison made significant improvements tothe idea of incandescent light, and wound up in the publicconsciousness as "the inventor" of the lightbulb.

After many experiments with platinum and other metal filaments,Edison returned to a carbon filament. The first successful test was onOctober 22, 1879;[30] it lasted 40 hours. Edison continued to improvethis design and by November 4, 1879, filed for U.S. patent 223,898(granted on January 27, 1880) for an electric lamp using "a carbonfilament or strip coiled and connected to platina contact wires".[31]

Although the patent described several ways of creating the carbonfilament including "cotton and linen thread, wood splints, papers coiledin various ways",[31] it was not until several months after the patentwas granted that Edison and his team discovered a carbonized bamboofilament that could last over 1,200 hours. The idea of using thisparticular raw material originated from Edison's recalling his examination of a few threads from a bamboo fishingpole while relaxing on the shore of Battle Lake in the present-day state of Wyoming, where he and other members ofa scientific team had traveled so that they could clearly observe a total eclipse of the sun on July 29, 1878, from theContinental Divide.[32]

U.S. Patent#223898: Electric-Lamp.Issued January 27, 1880.

In 1878, Edison formed the Edison Electric Light Company in New York Citywith several financiers, including J. P. Morgan and the members of theVanderbilt family. Edison made the first public demonstration of hisincandescent light bulb on December 31, 1879, in Menlo Park. It was during thistime that he said: "We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burncandles."[33]

George Westinghouse's company bought Philip Diehl's competing inductionlamp patent rights (1882) for $25,000, forcing the holders of the Edison patent tocharge a more reasonable rate for the use of the Edison patent rights andlowering the price of the electric lamp.[34]

On October 8, 1883, the US patent office ruled that Edison's patent was based onthe work of William Sawyer and was therefore invalid. Litigation continued fornearly six years, until October 6, 1889, when a judge ruled that Edison's electriclight improvement claim for "a filament of carbon of high resistance" was valid.To avoid a possible court battle with Joseph Swan, whose British patent had been

awarded a year before Edison's, he and Swan formed a joint company called Ediswan to manufacture and market theinvention in Britain.

Mahen Theatre in Brno in what is now the Czech Republic, was the first public building in the world to use Edison's electric lamps, with the installation supervised by Edison's assistant in the invention of the lamp, Francis Jehl.[35] In

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September 2010, a sculpture of three giant light bulbs was erected in Brno, in front of the theatre.[36]

Electric power distributionEdison patented a system for electricity distribution in 1880, which was essential to capitalize on the invention of theelectric lamp. On December 17, 1880, Edison founded the Edison Illuminating Company. The company establishedthe first investor-owned electric utility in 1882 on Pearl Street Station, New York City. It was on September 4, 1882,that Edison switched on his Pearl Street generating station's electrical power distribution system, which provided 110volts direct current (DC) to 59 customers in lower Manhattan.[37]

Earlier in the year, in January 1882 he had switched on the first steam generating power station at Holborn Viaductin London. The DC supply system provided electricity supplies to street lamps and several private dwellings within ashort distance of the station. On January 19, 1883, the first standardized incandescent electric lighting systememploying overhead wires began service in Roselle, New Jersey.

War of currents

Extravagant displays of electric lights quicklybecame a feature of public events, as in thispicture from the 1897 Tennessee Centennial

Exposition.

Edison's true success, like that of his friend Henry Ford, was in hisability to maximize profits through establishment of mass-productionsystems and intellectual property rights. George Westinghouse andEdison became adversaries because of Edison's promotion of directcurrent (DC) for electric power distribution instead of the more easilytransmitted alternating current (AC) system invented by Nikola Teslaand promoted by Westinghouse. Unlike DC, AC could be stepped upto very high voltages with transformers, sent over thinner and cheaperwires, and stepped down again at the destination for distribution tousers.

In 1887 there were 121 Edison power stations in the United Statesdelivering DC electricity to customers. When the limitations of DCwere discussed by the public, Edison launched a propaganda campaign to convince people that AC was far toodangerous to use. The problem with DC was that the power plants could economically deliver DC electricity only tocustomers within about one and a half miles (about 2.4 km) from the generating station, so that it was suitable onlyfor central business districts. When George Westinghouse suggested using high-voltage AC instead, as it could carryelectricity hundreds of miles with marginal loss of power, Edison waged a "War of Currents" to prevent AC frombeing adopted.

Despite Edison's contempt for capital punishment, the war against AC led him to become involved in thedevelopment and promotion of the electric chair (using AC) as an attempt to portray AC to have greater lethalpotential than DC. Edison went on to carry out a brief but intense campaign to ban the use of AC or to limit theallowable voltage for safety purposes. As part of this campaign, Edison's employees publicly electrocuted animals todemonstrate the dangers of AC;[38] [39] alternating electric currents are slightly more dangerous in that frequenciesnear 60 Hz have a markedly greater potential for inducing fatal "cardiac fibrillation" than do direct currents.[40] Onone of the more notable occasions, in 1903, Edison's workers electrocuted Topsy the elephant at Luna Park, nearConey Island, after she had killed several men and her owners wanted her put to death.[41] His company filmed theelectrocution.AC replaced DC in most instances of generation and power distribution, enormously extending the range and improving the efficiency of power distribution. Though widespread use of DC ultimately lost favor for distribution, it exists today primarily in long-distance high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission systems. Low voltage DC distribution continued to be used in high-density downtown areas for many years but was eventually replaced by AC

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low-voltage network distribution in many of them. DC had the advantage that large battery banks could maintaincontinuous power through brief interruptions of the electric supply from generators and the transmission system.Utilities such as Commonwealth Edison in Chicago had rotary converters or motor-generator sets, which couldchange DC to AC and AC to various frequencies in the early to mid-20th century. Utilities supplied rectifiers toconvert the low voltage AC to DC for such DC loads as elevators, fans and pumps. There were still 1,600 DCcustomers in downtown New York City as of 2005, and service was finally discontinued only on November 14,2007.[42] Most subway systems still are powered by direct current.

FluoroscopyEdison is credited with designing and producing the first commercially available fluoroscope, a machine that usesX-rays to take radiographs. Until Edison discovered that calcium tungstate fluoroscopy screens produced brighterimages than the barium platinocyanide screens originally used by Wilhelm Röntgen, the technology was capable ofproducing only very faint images. The fundamental design of Edison's fluoroscope is still in use today, despite thefact that Edison himself abandoned the project after nearly losing his own eyesight and seriously injuring hisassistant, Clarence Dally. Dally had made himself an enthusiastic human guinea pig for the fluoroscopy project andin the process been exposed to a poisonous dose of radiation. He later died of injuries related to the exposure. In1903, a shaken Edison said "Don't talk to me about X-rays, I am afraid of them."[43]

Work relations

Photograph of Thomas Edison by VictorDaireaux, Paris, circa 1880s

Frank J. Sprague, a competent mathematician and former naval officer,was recruited by Edward H. Johnson and joined the Edisonorganization in 1883. One of Sprague's significant contributions to theEdison Laboratory at Menlo Park was to expand Edison's mathematicalmethods. Despite the common belief that Edison did not usemathematics, analysis of his notebooks reveal that he was an astuteuser of mathematical analysis conducted by his assistants such asFrancis Upton, for example, determining the critical parameters of hiselectric lighting system including lamp resistance by a sophisticatedanalysis of Ohm's Law, Joule's Law and economics.[44]

Another of Edison's assistants was Nikola Tesla. Tesla claimed thatEdison promised him $50,000 if he succeeded in makingimprovements to his DC generation plants. Several months later, whenTesla had finished the work and asked to be paid, he said that Edisonreplied, "When you become a full-fledged American you willappreciate an American joke."[45] Tesla immediately resigned. WithTesla's salary of $18 per week, the payment would have amounted toover 53 years' pay and the amount was equal to the initial capital of thecompany. Tesla resigned when he was refused a raise to $25 per week.[46] Although Tesla accepted an Edison Medallater in life, this and other negative series of events concerning Edison remained with Tesla. The day after Edisondied, the New York Times contained extensive coverage of Edison's life, with the only negative opinion coming fromTesla who was quoted as saying:

"He had no hobby, cared for no sort of amusement of any kind and lived in utter disregard of the mostelementary rules of hygiene. [...] His method was inefficient in the extreme, for an immense ground had to becovered to get anything at all unless blind chance intervened and, at first, I was almost a sorry witness of hisdoings, knowing that just a little theory and calculation would have saved him 90% of the labour. But he had averitable contempt for book learning and mathematical knowledge, trusting himself entirely to his inventor's

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instinct and practical American sense."—Nikola Tesla

It seems very likely that Tesla's description was accurate, considering one of Edison's famous quotes regarding hisattempts to make the light globe:

"If I find 10,000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrongattempt discarded is another step forward".[47]

—Thomas EdisonWhen Edison was a very old man and close to death, he said, in looking back, that the biggest mistake he had madewas that he never respected Tesla or his work.[48]

There were 28 men recognized as Edison Pioneers.

Media inventionsThe key to Edison's fortunes was telegraphy. With knowledge gained from years of working as a telegraph operator,he learned the basics of electricity. This allowed him to make his early fortune with the stock ticker, the firstelectricity-based broadcast system. Edison patented the sound recording and reproducing phonograph in 1878.Edison was also granted a patent for the motion picture camera or "Kinetograph". He did the electromechanicaldesign, while his employee W.K.L. Dickson, a photographer, worked on the photographic and optical development.Much of the credit for the invention belongs to Dickson.[30] In 1891, Thomas Edison built a Kinetoscope, orpeep-hole viewer. This device was installed in penny arcades, where people could watch short, simple films. Thekinetograph and kinetoscope were both first publicly exhibited May 20, 1891.[49]

On August 9, 1892, Edison received a patent for a two-way telegraph. In April 1896, Thomas Armat's Vitascope,manufactured by the Edison factory and marketed in Edison's name, was used to project motion pictures in publicscreenings in New York City. Later he exhibited motion pictures with voice soundtrack on cylinder recordings,mechanically synchronized with the film.

The June 1894 Leonard–Cushing bout. Each ofthe six one-minute rounds recorded by the

Kinetoscope was made available to exhibitors for$22.50.[50] Customers who watched the final

round saw Leonard score a knockdown.

Officially the kinetoscope entered Europe when the rich AmericanBusinessman Irving T. Bush (1869–1948) bought from the ContinentalCommerce Company of Franck Z. Maguire and Joseph D. Bachus adozen machines. Bush placed from October 17, 1894, the firstkinetoscopes in London. At the same time the French companyKinétoscope Edison Michel et Alexis Werner bought these machinesfor the market in France. In the last three months of 1894 TheContinental Commerce Company sold hundreds of kinetoscopes inEurope (i.e. the Netherlands and Italy). In Germany and inAustria-Hungary the kinetoscope was introduced by theDeutsche-österreichische-Edison-Kinetoscop Gesellschaft, founded bythe Ludwig Stollwerck[51] of the Schokoladen-SüsswarenfabrikStollwerck & Co of Cologne. The first kinetoscopes arrived in Belgiumat the Fairs in early 1895. The Edison's Kinétoscope Français, aBelgian company, was founded in Brussels on January 15, 1895, with the rights to sell the kinetoscopes in Monaco,France and the French colonies. The main investors in this company were Belgian industrialists. On May 14, 1895,the Edison's Kinétoscope Belge was founded in Brussels. The businessman Ladislas-Victor Lewitzki, living inLondon but active in Belgium and France, took the initiative in starting this business. He had contacts with LeonGaumont and the American Mutoscope and Biograph Co. In 1898 he also became a shareholder of the Biograph andMutoscope Company for France.[52]

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In 1901, he visited the Sudbury area in Ontario, Canada, as a mining prospector, and is credited with the originaldiscovery of the Falconbridge ore body. His attempts to actually mine the ore body were not successful, however,and he abandoned his mining claim in 1903.[53] A street in Falconbridge, as well as the Edison Building, whichserved as the head office of Falconbridge Mines, are named for him.In 1902, agents of Thomas Edison bribed a theater owner in London for a copy of A Trip to the Moon by GeorgesMéliès. Edison then made hundreds of copies and showed them in New York City. Méliès received nocompensation. He was counting on taking the film to the US and recapture its huge cost by showing it throughout thecountry when he realized it had already been shown there by Edison. This effectively bankrupted Méliès.[54] Otherexhibitors similarly routinely copied and exhibited each others films.[55] To better protect the copyrights on his films,Edison deposited prints of them on long strips of photographic paper with the U.S. copyright office. Many of thesepaper prints survived longer and in better condition than the actual films of that era.[56]

Edison's favourite movie was The Birth of a Nation. He thought that talkies had "spoiled everything" for him. "Thereisn't any good acting on the screen. They concentrate on the voice now and have forgotten how to act. I can sense itmore than you because I am deaf."[57] His favorite stars were Mary Pickford and Clara Bow.[58]

In 1908, Edison started the Motion Picture Patents Company, which was a conglomerate of nine major film studios(commonly known as the Edison Trust). Thomas Edison was the first honorary fellow of the Acoustical Society ofAmerica, which was founded in 1929.

West Orange and Fort Myers (1886–1931)

Thomas A. Edison Industries Exhibit, PrimaryBattery section, 1915

Edison moved from Menlo Park after the death of Mary Stilwell andpurchased a home known as "Glenmont" in 1886 as a wedding gift forMina in Llewellyn Park in West Orange, New Jersey. In 1885, ThomasEdison bought property in Fort Myers, Florida, and built what was latercalled Seminole Lodge as a winter retreat. Edison and his wife Minaspent many winters in Fort Myers where they recreated and Edisontried to find a domestic source of natural rubber.

Henry Ford, the automobile magnate, later lived a few hundred feetaway from Edison at his winter retreat in Fort Myers, Florida. Edisoneven contributed technology to the automobile. They were friends untilEdison's death.

In 1928, Edison joined the Fort Myers Civitan Club. He believed strongly in the organization, writing that "TheCivitan Club is doing things —big things— for the community, state, and nation, and I certainly consider it an honorto be numbered in its ranks."[59] He was an active member in the club until his death, sometimes bringing HenryFord to the club's meetings.

The final years

Edison was active in business right up to the end. Just months before his death in 1931, the Lackawanna Railroadimplemented electric trains in suburban service from Hoboken to Gladstone, Montclair and Dover in New Jersey.Transmission was by means of an overhead

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Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone.Ft. Myers, Florida, February 11, 1929.

catenary system, with the entire project under Edison's guidance. Tothe surprise of many, he was at the throttle of the very first MU(Multiple-Unit) train to depart Lackawanna Terminal in Hoboken,driving the train all the way to Dover. As another tribute to his lastinglegacy, the same fleet of cars Edison deployed on the Lackawanna in1931 served commuters until their retirement in 1984, when some ofthem were purchased by the Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum inLenox, Massachusetts. A special plaque commemorating the jointachievement of both the railway and Edison can be seen today in thewaiting room of Lackawanna Terminal in Hoboken, presently operatedby New Jersey Transit.[60]

Edison was said to have been influenced by a popular fad diet in his last few years; "the only liquid he consumedwas a pint of milk every three hours".[30] He is reported to have believed this diet would restore his health. However,this tale is doubtful. In 1930, the year before Edison died, Mina said in an interview about him that "Correct eating isone of his greatest hobbies." She also said that during one of his periodic "great scientific adventures", Edison wouldbe up at 7:00, have breakfast at 8:00, and be rarely home for lunch or dinner, implying that he continued to have allthree.[57]

Edison became the owner of his Milan, Ohio, birthplace in 1906. On his last visit, in 1923, he was shocked to findhis old home still lit by lamps and candles.Thomas Edison died of complications of diabetes on October 18, 1931, in his home, "Glenmont" in Llewellyn Parkin West Orange, New Jersey, which he had purchased in 1886 as a wedding gift for Mina. He is buried behind thehome.[61] [62]

Edison's last breath is reportedly contained in a test tube at the Henry Ford Museum. Ford reportedly convincedCharles Edison to seal a test tube of air in the inventor's room shortly after his death, as a memento. A plaster deathmask was also made.[63]

Mina died in 1947.

Views on politics, religion and metaphysicsHistorian Paul Israel has characterized Edison as a "freethinker".[30] Edison was heavily influenced by ThomasPaine's The Age of Reason.[30] Edison defended Paine's "scientific deism", saying, "He has been called an atheist, butatheist he was not. Paine believed in a supreme intelligence, as representing the idea which other men often expressby the name of deity."[30] In an October 2, 1910, interview in the New York Times Magazine, Edison stated:

Nature is what we know. We do not know the gods of religions. And nature is not kind, or merciful, orloving. If God made me — the fabled God of the three qualities of which I spoke: mercy, kindness,love — He also made the fish I catch and eat. And where do His mercy, kindness, and love for that fishcome in? No; nature made us — nature did it all — not the gods of the religions.[64]

Edison was called an atheist for those remarks, and although he did not allow himself to be drawn into the controversy publicly, he clarified himself in a private letter: "You have misunderstood the whole article, because you jumped to the conclusion that it denies the existence of God. There is no such denial, what you call God I call Nature, the Supreme intelligence that rules matter. All the article states is that it is doubtful in my opinion if our

Thomas Edison 12

intelligence or soul or whatever one may call it lives hereafter as an entity or disperses back again from whence itcame, scattered amongst the cells of which we are made."[30]

Nonviolence was key to Edison's moral views, and when asked to serve as a naval consultant for World War I, hespecified he would work only on defensive weapons and later noted, "I am proud of the fact that I never inventedweapons to kill." Edison's philosophy of nonviolence extended to animals as well, about which he stated:"Nonviolence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other livingbeings, we are still savages."[65] However, he is also notorious for having electrocuted a number of dogs in 1888,both by direct and alternating current, in an attempt to argue that the former (which he had a vested business interestin promoting) was safer than the latter (favored by his rival George Westinghouse).[66] Edison's success in promotingdirect current as less lethal also led to alternating current being used in the electric chair adopted by New York in1889 as a supposedly humane execution method; because Westinghouse was angered by the decision, he fundedEighth Amendment-based appeals for inmates set to die in the electric chair, ultimately resulting in Edison providingthe generators which powered early electrocutions and testifying successfully on behalf of the state that electrocutionwas a painless method of execution.[67]

Tributes

Places named for EdisonSeveral places have been named after Edison, most notably the town of Edison, New Jersey. Thomas Edison StateCollege, a nationally known college for adult learners, is in Trenton, New Jersey. Two community colleges arenamed for him: Edison State College in Fort Myers, Florida, and Edison Community College in Piqua, Ohio.[68]

There are numerous high schools named after Edison; see Edison High School.The City Hotel, in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, was the first building to be lit with Edison's three-wire system. The hotelwas re-named The Hotel Edison, and retains that name today.Three bridges around the United States have been named in his honor (see Edison Bridge).

Museums and memorialsIn West Orange, New Jersey, the 13.5 acre (5.5 ha) Glenmont estate is maintained and operated by the National ParkService as the Edison National Historic Site.[69] The Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower and Museum is in thetown of Edison, New Jersey.[70] In Beaumont, Texas, there is an Edison Museum, though Edison never visited there.The Port Huron Museum, in Port Huron, Michigan, restored the original depot that Thomas Edison worked out of asa young newsbutcher. The depot has been named the Thomas Edison Depot Museum.[71] The town has many Edisonhistorical landmarks, including the graves of Edison's parents, and a monument along the St. Clair River. Edison'sinfluence can be seen throughout this city of 32,000. In Detroit, the Edison Memorial Fountain in Grand Circus Parkwas created to honor his achievements. The limestone fountain was dedicated October 21, 1929, the fiftiethanniversary of the creation of the lightbulb.[72] On the same night, The Edison Institute was dedicated in nearbyDearborn.In early 2010, Edison was proposed by the Ohio Historical Society as a finalist in a statewide vote for inclusion inStatuary Hall at the United States Capitol.

Thomas Edison 13

Companies bearing Edison's name• Edison General Electric, merged with Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric• Commonwealth Edison, now part of Exelon• Consolidated Edison• Edison International

• Southern California Edison• Edison Mission Energy• Edison Capital

• Detroit Edison, a unit of DTE Energy• Edison Sault Electric Company, a unit of Wisconsin Energy Corporation• FirstEnergy

• Metropolitan Edison• Ohio Edison• Toledo Edison

• Edison S.p.A., a unit of Italenergia• Boston Edison, a unit of NSTAR, formerly known as the Edison Electric Illuminating Company• WEEI radio station in Boston, established by the Edison Electric Illuminating Company (hence the call letters)• Trade association the Edison Electric Institute, a lobbying and research group for investor-owned utilities in the

United States

Awards named in honor of EdisonThe Edison Medal was created on February 11, 1904, by a group of Edison's friends and associates. Four years laterthe American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE), later IEEE, entered into an agreement with the group topresent the medal as its highest award. The first medal was presented in 1909 to Elihu Thomson and, in a twist offate, was awarded to Nikola Tesla in 1917. It is the oldest award in the area of electrical and electronics engineering,and is presented annually "for a career of meritorious achievement in electrical science, electrical engineering or theelectrical arts."In the Netherlands, the major music awards are named the Edison Award after him.The American Society of Mechanical Engineers concedes the Thomas A. Edison Patent Award to individual patentssince 2000.[73]

Honors and awards given to EdisonThe President of the Third French Republic, Jules Grévy, on the recommendation of his Minister of Foreign AffairsJules Barthélemy-Saint-Hilaire and with the presentations of the Minister of Posts and Telegraphs Louis Cochery,designated Edison with the distinction of an 'Officer of the Legion of Honour' (Légion d'honneur) by decree onNovember 10, 1881;[74]

In 1983, the United States Congress, pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 140 (Public Law 97—198), designatedFebruary 11, Edison's birthday, as National Inventor's Day.In 1887, Edison won the Matteucci Medal. In 1890, he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy ofSciences.In 1889, Edison was awarded the John Scott Medal.In 1899, Edison was awarded the Edward Longstreth Medal.Edison was awarded Franklin Medal of The Franklin Institute in 1915 for discoveries contributing to the foundationof industries and the well-being of the human race.

Thomas Edison 14

Edison was ranked thirty-fifth on Michael H. Hart's 1978 book The 100, a list of the most influential figures inhistory. Life magazine (USA), in a special double issue in 1997, placed Edison first in the list of the "100 MostImportant People in the Last 1000 Years", noting that the light bulb he promoted "lit up the world". In the 2005television series The Greatest American, he was voted by viewers as the fifteenth-greatest.In 2008, Edison was inducted in the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

Other items named after EdisonThe United States Navy named the USS Edison (DD-439), a Gleaves class destroyer, in his honor in 1940. The shipwas decommissioned a few months after the end of World War II. In 1962, the Navy commissioned USS Thomas A.Edison (SSBN-610), a fleet ballistic missile nuclear-powered submarine. Decommissioned on December 1, 1983,Thomas A. Edison was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on April 30, 1986. She went through the Navy'sNuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, Washington, beginning on October 1, 1996.When she finished the program on December 1, 1997, she ceased to exist as a complete ship and was listed asscrapped.

In popular cultureThomas Edison has appeared in popular culture as a character in novels, films, comics and video games. His prolificinventing helped make him an icon and he has made appearances in popular culture during his lifetime down to thepresent day. His history with Nikola Tesla has also provided dramatic tension and is a theme returned to numeroustimes.

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Little Theory Would Have Saved Him 90% of Labor, Ex-Aide Asserts. Praises His Great Genius.". New York Times. October 19, 1931."Nikola Tesla, one of the world's outstanding electrical technicians, who came to America in 1884 to work with Thomas A. Edison,specifically in the designing of motors and generators, recounted yesterday some of ..."

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Was Stricken on August 1. World-Wide Tribute Is Paid to Him as a Benefactor of Mankind". New York Times. October 18, 1931. "WestOrange, New Jersey, Sunday, October 18, 1931. Thomas Alva Edison died at 3:24 o'clock this morning at his home, Glenmont, in theLlewellyn Park section of this city. The great inventor, the fruits of whose genius so magically transformed the everyday world, was 84 yearsand 8 months old."

[62] Benoit, Tod (2003). Where are they buried? How did they die?. Black Dog & Leventhal. p. 560. ISBN 978-1-57912-678-0.[63] "Is Thomas Edison's last breath preserved in a test tube in the Henry Ford Museum?" (http:/ / www. straightdope. com/ classics/ a2_128a.

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[65] Cited in Innovate Like Edison: The Success System of America's Greatest Inventor (http:/ / books. google. com/books?id=DtjWFiDKsJ0C& pg=PA37& dq="Still+ savages"+ edison& ei=KiHMSLJSiNzKBIiglYsJ&sig=ACfU3U2IXFOuvGUriygDwhEkgvqyaefwEg) by Sarah Miller Caldicott, Michael J. Gelb, page 37.

[66] Jonnes[67] Bellis, Mary. "Death, Money, and the History of the Electric Chair" (http:/ / www. webcitation. org/ 5umThCy06). About.com. Archived

from the original (http:/ / inventors. about. com/ od/ hstartinventions/ a/ Electric_Chair. htm) on 2010-12-06. . Retrieved February 23, 2010."On January 1, 1889, the world's first electrical execution law went into full effect. Westinghouse protested the decision and refused to sellany AC generators directly to prison authorities. Thomas Edison and Harold Brown provided the AC generators needed for the first workingelectric chairs. George Westinghouse funded the appeals for the first prisoners sentenced to death by electrocution, made on the grounds that"electrocution was cruel and unusual punishment." Edison and Brown both testified for the state that execution was a quick and painless formof death and the State of New York won the appeals."

[68] "Edison Community College (Ohio)" (http:/ / www. edison. cc. oh. us/ ). Edison.cc.oh.us. . Retrieved January 29, 2009.[69] Thomas Edison National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) (http:/ / www. nps. gov/ edis/ )[70] menloparkmuseum.org/tower-restoration (http:/ / www. menloparkmuseum. org/ tower-restoration). Retrieved 28 September 2010.[71] (http:/ / www. phmuseum. org/ EdisonDepot. html). Retrieved 28 September 2010.[72] (http:/ / www. buildingsofdetroit. com/ places/ ef). Retrieved 28 September 2010.[73] "Thomas A. Edison Patent Award" (http:/ / www. webcitation. org/ 5umTifXDW). American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Archived

from the original (http:/ / www. asme. org/ Governance/ Honors/ SocietyAwards/ Thomas_Edison_Patent_Award. cfm) on 2010-12-06. .[74] NNDB online website (http:/ / www. nndb. com/ honors/ 139/ 000048992/ ). The same decree awarded German physicist Hermann von

Helmholtz with the designation of Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor, as well as Alexander Graham Bell. The decree preamble cited "forservices provided to the Congress and to the International Electrical Exhibition"

Thomas Edison 17

Bibliography• Albion, Michele Wehrwein. (2008). The Florida Life of Thomas Edison. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.

ISBN 978-0-8130-3259-7.• Adams, Glen J. (2004). The Search for Thomas Edison's Boyhood Home. ISBN 978-1-4116-1361-4.• Angel, Ernst (1926). Edison. Sein Leben und Erfinden. Berlin: Ernst Angel Verlag.• Baldwin, Neil (2001). Edison: Inventing the Century. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-03571-0.• Clark, Ronald William (1977). Edison: The man who made the future. London: Macdonald & Jane's: Macdonald

and Jane's. ISBN 978-0-354-04093-8.• Conot, Robert (1979). A Streak of Luck. New York: Seaview Books. ISBN 978-0-87223-521-2.• Davis, L. J. (1998). Fleet Fire: Thomas Edison and the Pioneers of the Electric Revolution. New York:

Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-47927-1.• Essig, Mark (2004). Edison and the Electric Chair. Stroud: Sutton. ISBN 978-0-7509-3680-4.• Essig, Mark (2003). Edison & the Electric Chair: A Story of Light and Death. New York: Walker & Company.

ISBN 978-0-8027-1406-0.• Jonnes, Jill (2003). Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World. New

York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-375-50739-7.• Josephson, Matthew (1959). Edison. McGraw Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-033046-7.• Pretzer, William S. (ed). (1989). Working at Inventing: Thomas A. Edison and the Menlo Park Experience.

Dearborn, Michigan: Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village. ISBN 978-0-933728-33-2.• Stross, Randall E. (2007). The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World.

Crown. ISBN 1-400-04762-5.

External linksLocations• Menlo Park Museum and Edison Memorial Tower (http:/ / www. menloparkmuseum. com/ )• Thomas Edison National Historical Park (http:/ / www. nps. gov/ edis/ index. htm) (National Park Service)• Edison exhibit and Menlo Park Laboratory at Henry Ford Museum (http:/ / www. hfmgv. org/ exhibits/ edison/ )• Edison Museum (http:/ / www. edisonmuseum. org/ )• Edison Depot Museum (http:/ / www. phmuseum. org/ depot/ depot. htm)• Edison Birthplace Museum (http:/ / www. tomedison. org/ )• Thomas Edison House (http:/ / www. edisonhouse. org/ )Information and media• Thomas Edison (http:/ / www. bbc. co. uk/ programmes/ b00wdjr8) on In Our Time at the BBC. ( listen now

(http:/ / www. bbc. co. uk/ iplayer/ console/ b00wdjr8/ In_Our_Time_Thomas_Edison))• The Diary of Thomas Edison (http:/ / ariwatch. com/ VS/ TheDiaryOfThomasEdison. htm)• Works by Thomas Edison (http:/ / www. gutenberg. org/ author/ Thomas+ A. + Edison) at Project Gutenberg• Edison's patent application for the light bulb (http:/ / www. archives. gov/ exhibits/ american_originals_iv/

sections/ thomas_edison_patent. html) at the National Archives.• Thomas Edison (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ name/ nm0249379/ ) at the Internet Movie Database• Jan. 4, 1903: Edison Fries an Elephant to Prove His Point (http:/ / www. wired. com/ science/ discoveries/ news/

2008/ 01/ dayintech_0104?) – Wired Magazine article about Edison's "macabre form of a series of animalelectrocutions using AC."

• The Invention Factory: Thomas Edison's Laboratories (http:/ / www. nps. gov/ history/ NR/ twhp/ wwwlps/lessons/ 25edison/ 25edison. htm)

• Edison, His Life and Inventions by Frank Lewis Dyer and Thomas Commerford Martin' (http:/ / www. gutenberg.org/ etext/ 820) at Project Gutenberg

Thomas Edison 18

• Rutgers: Edison Papers (http:/ / edison. rutgers. edu/ )• Edisonian Museum Antique Electrics (http:/ / www. edisonian. com/ )• " Edison's Miracle of Light (http:/ / www. pbs. org/ wgbh/ amex/ edison/ )"• Edison Innovation Foundation (http:/ / www. thomasedison. org) – Non-profit foundation supporting the legacy

of Thomas Edison.• Thomas Alva Edison (http:/ / www. findagrave. com/ cgi-bin/ fg. cgi?page=gr& GRid=1630) at Find a Grave• The Illustrious Vagabonds (http:/ / www. hfha. org/ HenryFord. htm#Ford-Edison-Firestone-Burroughs)• "The World's Greatest Inventor", October 1931, Popular Mechanics (http:/ / books. google. com/

books?id=vuQDAAAAMBAJ& pg=PA614& dq=Popular+ Mechanics+ 1931+ curtiss& hl=en&ei=sZj0TNiVFcPXngeTp8W2CQ& sa=X& oi=book_result& ct=result& resnum=4&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAw#v=onepage& q=Popular Mechanics 1931 curtiss& f=true) detailed, illustrated article

Article Sources and Contributors 19

Article Sources and ContributorsThomas Edison  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=412925318  Contributors: (jarbarf), -asx-, -love-revenge-, 0, 0dd1, 10stone5, 12fred, 194.237.150.xxx, 1exec1, 3.14159265, 41523, 8th Ohio Volunteers, 9870, A Softer Answer, A. Balet, ABF, AFoxtrotn00ber123, AHMartin, AKMask, AMazing101, Aaron Schulz, AaronY, Abductive, Abu-Fool Danyal ibn Amir al-Makhiri, Accurizer, Adam Bishop, Adam00f, Adipatus, Adraeus, Afaprof01, Ageekgal, Agentseven, Agüeybaná, Ahoerstemeier, Aitias, Ajh16, Akamad, AlainV, Alan Canon, Alan Rockefeller, Alangstone, Ale jrb, AlexBartlett4, AlexPlank, AlexiusHoratius, Alexlalala, Alexwcovington, Alkivar, Allen234, Alohawolf, Altenmann, Alvainstantmessenger, Amalthea, Amerias, AmericanColumbia, Americanstar77, Ancheta Wis, Andre Engels, Andrevan, Andrewpmk, Andrewrp, AndyZ, Angela, Ann Stouter, Anna512, AnnaFrance, AnnaKucsma, AnonEMouse, AnonMoos, Anonymi, Anonymous anonymous, Anoopan, Antaeus Feldspar, Antandrus, Anthony, AntiuserX, Antonrojo, Apworldhistorybitches, Aquizard, Arakunem, Arch dude, Archivist, Archtransit, Ardara, Argyll Lassie, Arjun01, Art LaPella, Asarelah, Astrochemist, At yarraa, Atlant, Attilios, AuburnPilot, Aude, Av99, Avb, Average Earthman, Avian, Avnjay, Az1568, AzaToth, Azumanga1, B Pete, BIackVerb, BMcCJ, Baa, Babaluma, BabuBhatt, Baby peach, Bacc123, Bachrach44, Badams5115, Badbilltucker, Badger2k7, Ballsmagee, Banes, Barneca, BaronLarf, BarroColorado, Bart133, Bass fishing physicist, Bbsrock, Bdprincess94, BeLikeMike1314, Bearcat, Beland, Ben davison, Bender235, Benman 94, Benmical619, Bennyp77, Betty Logan, Bevo, Bgyhhhfewrhfewrcfefrqfrlk, Bhadani, Bhageerathanpillai, Bigar, Bigtimepeace, Bigturtle, Bigus100, Billy Hathorn, Biso, Blablablablablabla, Black Kite, Blainster, Blair Bonnett, Blanchardb, Blobglob, Blorg, Blue520, BlueAmethyst, Bluee Mountain, Bmn25, Bobblewik, Bobbom8, Bobby322, Bobo192, Bobthebuilderfixitup, Bobtoo, Bogey97, Bongwarrior, Boo2252, Bookinvestor, Booksworm, Boothy443, Bootstoots, Borisblue, BostonMA, Branagh, Branddobbe, Bratsche, Brendan Moody, Brian0918, BrianIsCool2007, BrightonOfBurgundy, BrokenSegue, Brutannica, Bryan Derksen, Btipling, Buchanan-Hermit, Bucs, Bueller 007, Bugnot, BurgerXcore, Burkerizor, Bushcarrot, Butros, Butseriouslyfolks, Bwithh, C.h.carroll, CCRoxtar, CDA, CLW, CO, CPacker, Caerwine, Calebrw, Calliopejen1, Caltas, Calvin 1998, CambridgeBayWeather, Can't sleep, clown will eat me, Canadian-Bacon, CanadianLinuxUser, CanisRufus, Capricorn42, Caracaskid, Carcharoth, Carl.bunderson, Carlj7, Caroluke, Casper2k3, CastAStone, Casualtie, Cat's Tuxedo, Catgut, Catman33, Catwarrior2, Causesobad, Cbrown1023, Celestianpower, Celtic Harper, Centrx, Cgord, Chadloder, Chanueting, Chaojoker, CharlotteWebb, Che fox, Cheeseface6969, Chelseawoman, Chenopodiaceous, Chensiyuan, Cholmes75, ChrisGlew, Chrislk02, Christopher Parham, Chronodm, Chzz, CiTrusD, Citicat, Civil Engineer III, Ckatz, Clariosophic, Clarityfiend, Clawson, Clemwang, Cliché Online, Closedmouth, Cmichael, Coconut1237, Coemgenus, Colincbn, Collect, Collieuk, Common Man, CommonsDelinker, Computerjoe, ConMan, Connormah, Consequencefree, Contessa1970, Conversion script, Cool Genius, Corpx, Cowsmilkalot, Cpl Syx, Cpswarrior, Cracker017, Crazycomputers, Crimson30, CryptoDerk, Crüsäder, Cshay, Cullen kasunic, Cw7, Cweb93, Cyclonenim, Cyde, Cynicism addict, D C McJonathan, D. 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IronMaidenRocks, Isis, Isoxyl, Itobo, Ixfd64, J JMesserly, J.delanoy, JFreeman, JHeinonen, JRHorse, JSweit8573, JT72, JaGa, Jaardon, Jacek Kendysz, Jack Rance, Jackehammond, Jackofblades1ul, Jackol, Jacoplane, Jak123, James.kendall, James086, JamesAM, Jan eissfeldt, Janke, Jaraalbe, Jaranda, Jarash, Jaredfaulkner, Jarle fagerheim, Jason Recliner, Esq., Jason Stormchild, Jatkins, Jaxl, JayHenry, Jayman007, Jclemens, Jdforrester, Jdreed, JeLuF, Jeepday, Jeff G., Jeffhoy, Jennavecia, JenniferMarkisoto, Jensgb, JeremyA, Jerome Kohl, Jerzy, JesseHogan, Jesusfreak 1997, Jfknrh, Jhbayless, Jihg, Jillsherman, Jim.henderson, Jimjones5, Jinxed, Jmiz5, Jmlk17, Joao Xavier, JoeSmack, Joey1707, John, John Quincy Adding Machine, John Vandenberg, John wesley, John254, JohnOwens, Johnh7, Jojit fb, Jon Cates, JonGwynne, JongGuk, Jooler, Jordanmueller, Jose77, Joseph Solis in Australia, Joseph Spadaro, Josephtan456, Joshua Haberman, Jossi, Jowan2005, Joy, Joyous!, Jpd, Jpgordon, Jpx122x, Jrcla2, 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Mholland, Micasta, Michael Bednarek, Michael Essmeyer, Michael Griske, Michael Hardy, Michael Snow, Michaelbusch, Michaelcarraher, Midgrid, Mike 7, Mike Rosoft, Mike Segal, Mike holloweezy, Mike2vil, Mikehollowazzy, Mild Bill Hiccup, Millermedeiros, Mini-Geek, Mintguy, Miquonranger03, Miranda, Misterrick, Mitsomega, Mjfan13, Mkamensek, Mkehrt, Modernist, Mojotoad, MonElisa, Monedula, Monstrosity, Montayxx1, Monterey2000, Moonriddengirl, Moralis, Moriori, Motor.on, Mr Stephen, Mr. Lefty, MrDolomite, MrVacBob, Mschel, Mschlindwein, Mu, Muchclag, Muke, Mulad, Mulder416, Munita Prasad, Muspud2, Muéro, Mvuijlst, MyraCruz888, Mystiscool, N328KF, NHRHS2010, Nakon, Namazu-tron, Natcase, Natemwilson, Nathan, Natl1, Natsfanbayard95, Naufana, NawlinWiki, Ndenison, Neelix, Nehrams2020, Nenene, Netoholic, Neutrality, Nevermind1534, NewEnglandYankee, Newone, Neworleans504, Nick Skid, Nick123, Nick125, Nightinbangkok, Nikola Smolenski, Nimur, Ninam, NinjaMonkey626, Nivix, Nk, Nknight, Nlu, Nneonneo, 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Smmity, Smoking popes666, Snezzy, Snowolf, Snoyes, Socceris2die42, Someguy1221, Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme, Soms, Soumyasch, Spangs, Sparky034, Spellcast, Spellmaster, Spencer, SpinyNorman, Spliffy, Split Infinity, Spoofonics, SpookyMulder, Sprite0909, Srikeit, Srini81, Srose, Ssd, Stan Shebs, Staples, Stephaninator, Stephen Bain, Stephen and Franklin and Roger and James, Stephenb, Stephenw32768, Sterfrye36, Steven Fish, Stevertigo, Stevietheman, Stickwithit, StonedChipmunk, Storm Rider, Stovelsten, Street F!ghter, Strom, Stubbleboy, Subhamrony, Sudyp, Sugemax, Suisui, Sulik, Sultanofsurreal, Sunnyboi14, Supertask, Swango, Swerdnaneb, Swid, Swiftly, Switchercat, Symane, Synchronism, SyntaxError55, Syrthiss, THEN WHO WAS PHONE?, TJDay, Tachyon01, Tactik, Tailpig, Tangotango, Tannin, Tanthalas39, TaranRampersad, Tarquin, Tassedethe, Tawker, Technocratic, Ted Wilkes, TedE, TehValch, Teiladnam, Tellyaddict, Terence, TexMurphy, Th1rt3en, Thatdog, Thatdrivesmecrazy, Thatsreallynifty, The 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Article Sources and Contributors 20

Titoxd, Tmac2419, Tobias Hoevekamp, TodorBozhinov, Tom harrison, Tomas e, Tombomp, Tony Fox, Tony1, Topologyrob, Tpbradbury, Tree Biting Conspiracy, Trevor MacInnis, Treybien,Tristanreid, Trondtr, Troy 07, Truthanado, Turgidson, Twang, Twelsht, Tye, TypoDotOrg, USAF, USPatent, Ubernoob363, Ugen64, Ukexpat, Uncle Dick, Undercrank, Unidyne, Unyoyega,UrsaFoot, Useight, User F203, User2004, User6854, Valfontis, Van helsing, Vaoverland, Vary, Vcelloho, Vejvančický, Venu62, Verne Equinox, Vibsir2, Vicenarian, Vichid666, Victoriagirl,Violentbob, Vipersrock, Viriditas, VirtualDelight, Viscious81, Vishnava, Vithorejs, Viva la nation, Vojvodaen, VolatileChemical, Volume12, WATP, WAvegetarian, WJBscribe, Wackymacs,WadeSimMiser, Waggers, WarthogDemon, Washburnmav, Waterguy, Wayfarers43, Wayward, Webmc, West Brom 4ever, Whatthree16, Whatusername101, Wijnand, Wiki alf, Wikiacc,Wikipeta, Will Beback Auto, WillOakland, William I of Schenectady, William M. Connolley, Willking1979, Wimt, Wingman1331, Wingsandsword, Wknight94, Wmahan, Work permit,Ww2censor, X15, X1a4muse, XJamRastafire, XXWhiteShadowXx, Xanderer, Xaosflux, Xcentaur, Xdenizen, Xecstascenex, Xequae, Xiahou, Xxpor, YAYYOYAY, Yacky, Yackyt,Yamaguchi先生, Yamamoto Ichiro, Yanwen, Yelyos, Yes yes yes yes, Yidisheryid, Yintan, Yoshi 96, Yosri, Youlsss, YourXsoXsXe, Youssefa, Yyg, Zachman16, Zafiroblue05, Zebra425,Zigzig20s, Zoicon5, Zone156, Zosodada, Zsinj, Zunderbaal, Zzyzx11, Δ, 3606 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:Thomas_Edison2.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Thomas_Edison2.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: user:mvuijlstFile:Thomas Alva Edison Signature.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Thomas_Alva_Edison_Signature.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Thomas AlvaEdisonFile:Milan Ohio Thomas Edison Birthplace.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Milan_Ohio_Thomas_Edison_Birthplace.jpg  License: Creative CommonsAttribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors: User:Chris LightFile:Edison 07-04-2008 02;41;46PM altered 2 PsCSJPEGo10.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Edison_07-04-2008_02;41;46PM_altered_2_PsCSJPEGo10.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors: Original uploader was Preslethe at en.wikipediaFile:Young Thomas Edison.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Young_Thomas_Edison.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Infrogmation, Juliancolton, Maksim,Makthorpe, Meno25, Túrelio, Vonvon, 9 anonymous editsFile:Mina Edison 1906.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Mina_Edison_1906.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Pach Bros.File:Edison and phonograph edit1.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Edison_and_phonograph_edit1.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Levin C. Handy (perhttp://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cwpbh.04326)File:Menlo Park Laboratory.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Menlo_Park_Laboratory.JPG  License: Attribution  Contributors: User:A. BaletFile:Edison bulb.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Edison_bulb.jpg  License: GNU Free Documentation License  Contributors: Uploaded at enwp by User:AlkivarFile:Thomas Edison, 1878.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Thomas_Edison,_1878.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: ChrisHAu, Cohesion, Scoutersig,Tiptoety, 3 anonymous editsFile:Light bulb Edison 2.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Light_bulb_Edison_2.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Thomas Edison (reprinted by the NorrisPeters Co.)File:PyramidParthenon.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:PyramidParthenon.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Hameryko, Infrogmation, Kaldari,Xnatedawgx, 2 anonymous editsFile:Thomas Edison cabinet card by Victor Daireaux, c1880s.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Thomas_Edison_cabinet_card_by_Victor_Daireaux,_c1880s.JPG License: Public Domain  Contributors: Victor DaireauxFile:Leonard Cushing Kinetograph 1894.ogv  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Leonard_Cushing_Kinetograph_1894.ogv  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Hooman, Mahanga, R. Engelhardt, Scewing, Shoulder-synth, WikipediaMaster, 2 anonymous editsFile:Edison battery exhibit, 1915.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Edison_battery_exhibit,_1915.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Michal Nebyla, Tillman, 1anonymous editsFile:Ford Edison Firestone1.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Ford_Edison_Firestone1.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Images of American PoliticalHistory-A collection of over 500 public domain images of American Political History.

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