The inventor Thomas Edison was born in Ohio in 1847. He was described as the man who lit up the world after inventing the electric light bulb on October 21, 1879.
In addition, Thomas Edison was the most famous scientist of his time, and his name was immortalized in history.
The First Generation of the Edison Family
He was among the first generation of the Edison family born in America; his father was of Dutch origin and his mother Scottish.
His father, Samuel Ogden Edison, and his mother, Matthews Elliott, gave him the middle name Alva in honor of Captain Alva Bradley.
Therefore, when Edison was 7 years old, his father’s company went bankrupt, and the family suffered from a difficult economic situation, so they decided to move from Milan to Port Huron in search of a better community.
Edison’s mother enrolled her son in a local school run by a pastor and his aunt, hoping he would receive a better education, but he was expelled after only 3 months, as his teachers believed there was no place for him in the school.
He was curious, preoccupied with everything around him, very active, and constantly asking questions. They judged him to be slow to grasp concepts and unqualified for school education.
Edison’s mother received a letter expelling her son from school, and when she read it, she decided to lie to him, distorting the meaning of the letter.
Edison Learns the Truth About His Expulsion from School and Cries
Edison did not discover the true content of the letter until some time after his mother’s death. After finding it, he read it while crying, and its true content was: “Your son is mentally ill, and we can no longer allow him to attend school.”
At an early age, Edison showed abilities in mechanics, chemical experiments, and technology. Before he turned ten, he set up his first laboratory in the basement of his family home, immersing himself in small experiments that occupied him for long hours.
At the age of six, he conducted his first scientific experiment, but it caused his father’s company’s grain store to burn down, for which his father punished him by beating him in front of people in the village square.
His true success story began after a machine at the gold exchange, whose function was to record prices, broke down. The machine’s inventor, Dr. Laws, came to repair it, and Edison’s curiosity prompted him to offer help. Laws allowed him to participate in repairing the machine.
In 1868, Edison managed to register his first patent, which was a device for electrically recording electoral votes, but the American Senate (Congress) refused to use it.
The invention that first brought him fame was the phonograph, which he invented in 1877; thanks to it, he was nicknamed “The Wizard of Menlo Park.”
By the time Edison reached 33 years of age, he had made 389 inventions in the field of light and electrical power, 195 in phonography, 150 in telegraphy, 141 storage batteries, and 34 inventions in telephony. The “stupid child” became the holder of the largest number of patents in the world, and the credit goes to a “lie”!
Edison Invents the Light Bulb and Makes Headlines
By the end of summer 1878, Edison worked on the idea of inventing a light bulb that could be used in homes as an alternative to gas lamps. After 999 attempts—according to American reports—he announced the success of his invention on the 1000th experiment, making headlines and becoming known as the first man to illuminate an entire neighborhood with electric light.
Finally, three days after the 52nd anniversary of Edison’s invention of the light bulb, he passed away on October 18, 1931, at the age of 84, at his home in Llewellyn Park, West Orange, New Jersey.
