Though Edison did not invent the first light bulb, as most people believe, he did invent the first incandescent light bulb. In , the formation of the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of New York, constructed the first commercial electricity generation and distribution system.
It powered a one-mile square of residences and businesses in Manhattan, offering Americans more affordable, efficient electricity and lighting. The company would later take part in mergers leading to the formation of General Electric in , which would later become innovators in AC electricity, though Edison would not play a starring role.
However, as the technology advanced, receivers were increasingly equipped with a sounding key, enabling telegraphers to "read" message by the sound of the clicks. This left Edison disadvantaged, with fewer and fewer opportunities for employment. In , Edison returned home to find his beloved mother was falling into mental illness and his father was out of work. The family was almost destitute. Edison realized he needed to take control of his future.
Upon the suggestion of a friend, he ventured to Boston, landing a job for the Western Union Company. At the time, Boston was America's center for science and culture, and Edison reveled in it. In his spare time, he designed and patented an electronic voting recorder for quickly tallying votes in the legislature. However, Massachusetts lawmakers were not interested. As they explained, most legislators didn't want votes tallied quickly.
They wanted time to change the minds of fellow legislators. In Edison married year-old Mary Stilwell, who was an employee at one of his businesses. During their year marriage, they had three children, Marion, Thomas and William, who himself became an inventor.
In , Mary died at the age of 29 of a suspected brain tumor. Two years later, Edison married Mina Miller, 19 years his junior. In , at 22 years old, Edison moved to New York City and developed his first invention, an improved stock ticker called the Universal Stock Printer, which synchronized several stock tickers' transactions.
With this success, he quit his work as a telegrapher to devote himself full-time to inventing. By the early s, Edison had acquired a reputation as a first-rate inventor.
In , he set up his first small laboratory and manufacturing facility in Newark, New Jersey, and employed several machinists. As an independent entrepreneur, Edison formed numerous partnerships and developed products for the highest bidder. Often that was Western Union Telegraph Company, the industry leader, but just as often, it was one of Western Union's rivals.
In , Edison moved his expanding operations to Menlo Park, New Jersey, and built an independent industrial research facility incorporating machine shops and laboratories. That same year, Western Union encouraged him to develop a communication device to compete with Alexander Graham Bell 's telephone.
He never did. Thomas Edison listening to a phonograph through a primitive headphone. In December , Edison developed a method for recording sound: the phonograph. His innovation relied upon tin-coated cylinders with two needles: one for recording sound, and another for playback. His first words spoken into the phonograph's mouthpiece were, "Mary had a little lamb. Army to bring music to the troops overseas during World War I. Edison decided to take on the challenge of inventing a lighter, more dependable and more powerful battery.
After conducting extensive research and the embarrassing flop of an early design, Edison came up with a reliable alkaline battery, and in began production of it. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Automatic Telegraph. Recommended for you. Serbian-American engineer and physicist Nikola Tesla made dozens of breakthroughs in the production, transmission and application of electric power.
He invented the first alternating current AC motor and developed AC generation and transmission technology. Alexander Graham Bell, best known for his invention of the telephone, revolutionized communication as we know it. His interest in sound technology was deep-rooted and personal, as both his wife and mother were deaf.
Italian inventor and engineer Guglielmo Marconi developed, demonstrated and marketed the first successful long-distance wireless telegraph and in broadcast the first transatlantic radio signal. Thomas Paine was an England-born political philosopher and writer who supported revolutionary causes in America and Europe.
Developed in the s and s by Samuel Morse and other inventors, the telegraph revolutionized long-distance communication. It worked by transmitting electrical signals over a wire laid between stations.
In addition to helping invent the telegraph, Samuel Morse In , Connecticut-born gun manufacturer Samuel Colt received a U. Colt founded a company to manufacture his revolving-cylinder pistol; however, sales were slow and the Thomas Jefferson , author of the Declaration of Independence and the third U.
Wilbur and Orville Wright were American inventors and pioneers of aviation. In the Wright brothers achieved the first powered, sustained and controlled airplane flight; they surpassed their own milestone two years later when they built and flew the first fully practical
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