Thomas Edison was mostly known for his inventions, but he actually had an interesting life. In this paper, you will learn about Edison’s childhood, early life, inventions, his death, and much more. Thomas Alva Edison was born on February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio. He was the last of seven others. His parents name were Samuel and Nancy Edison. Thomas and his family moved from Milan, Ohio to Port Huron, Michigan when he was just seven years old. When Thomas was thirteen years old he had his first job as a newsboy. He also would sell things such as candy and newspapers to people on the railroad that went through Port Huron. When he was just thirteen, one of Thomas’ favorite things to do was read scientific and technical books. He had also learned …show more content…
Thomas received his ability to read and write from his mother along with arithmetic. Thomas Edison would always want to know more and taught himself other things just by reading. Although Nancy, Thomas Edison’s mother, taught him how to read, he began getting smarter and smarter by reading on his own and constantly learning new things. When Edison was sixteen he used his ability to use a telegraph and became a full time telegrapher. After five years of being a telegrapher, he decided he wanted to become an inventor. In 1868, Thomas moved to Boston, Massachusetts and made his first invention. It was the electric vote recorder which was supposed to speed up the voting process. Later, he found that the invention was a bust. Edison was determined to keep inventing, but his inventions would include things that he knew people would …show more content…
This is where he found his first invention that was well worth his time. He invented the “Universal Stock Printer” which was a better stock ticker. He got paid $40,000 for his invention and that was enough money to allow himself to get a laboratory. Edison moved again once he had the money for a laboratory, and this time it was to Newark, New Jersey in 1871. He worked in Newark to invent better things to speed up the telegraph. Thomas was also able to find a woman by the name of Mary Stilwell that he got married to when he was twenty-four years old. Five years later, Edison and his family were off again. This time to a small place in Menlo Park, New York. In Menlo Park Edison created the tin foil phonograph. This invention allowed people to record and listen to sounds created. Thomas Edison was invited to go to the White House to explain how it worked to former president Rutherford Hayes in 1878. Next, Edison began one of his most famous inventions, the light bulb. There were many people who had attempted to create the light bulb before, and some even succeeded but they were not good enough to have for home use. It took Thomas one and a half years to do it, but he got his first light bulb to burn for thirteen and a half hours straight. In 1882, the first power station went into use and it gave light to people anywhere