Thomas Alva Edison is an American inventor and entrepreneur that greatly influenced the world with his inventions and innovations. If it weren’t for Edison and his curiosity our world would have never came to be the way it is today with recorded sound never even existing. Edison’s phonograph was the first type of recording device that played back recorded sound through series of grooves on tinfoil wrapped around wax cylinders. The phonograph was a device that Edison “accidentally” discovered when he was fiddling around with a telegraph transmitter when he noticed that when played at a fast speed, the paper tape that ran through the machine created noise that sounded like spoken word. So Edison rolled with it and eventually created the phonograph. Without the phonograph recorded sound would have probably never existed, and even things like movies wouldn’t have even had sound to it. Not only was this feat impressive but he was also one of the first inventors to actually mass produce his product and sell it to many people. Edison had many ideas for uses of this product and many of these innovations did become a reality but little did Thomas Edison knew, his phonograph would inspire millions and would change the world forever. …show more content…
He was the youngest of seven to his parents Samuel Edison and Nancy Elliott. Edison lived in Milan which was among the biggest wheat shipping center in the world, however him and his family moved to Port Huron, Michigan in 1854. Edison grew up with some formal education but was withdrawn from school at age seven due to his overactive personality. Knowing of his condition which today would be ADHD, his mother had decided to keep him home and taught him herself (Beals 1999). She had taught him arithmetic, reading and writing and played a huge role in young Edison’s