Who Was Thomas Edison Thomas Edison 1847 1931 was an American inventor His most famous inventions were the electric light bulb the phonograph and the motion picture camera Edison wasn’t just an inventor He was also a businessman He wanted to invent things that people would buy so that he would make money If Edison saw a good idea he would work hard to make it even better Edison famously said that genius is one percent inspiration ninety-nine percent perspiration
The United States in Edison’s day The 19th century was a time of great change in the United States Millions of people were moving there from other countries to start a new life New industries were appearing in the northeast while railroads were being built across the country This meant that people could travel west too Edison’s first job was on the railroads In this picture railroad workers are joining the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad at Promontory Summit Utah in 1869
Young Edison Thomas Alva Edison was born on February 11 1847 in Milan Ohio Al as his family nicknamed him was the youngest of seven children When Thomas was about eight he went to school His teacher could not keep up with his questions so he left after just three months From then on Thomas’s mother taught him at home He was always very grateful to his mother for spending so much time teaching him He wanted to make her proud Thomas was a lively curious boy who asked lots of questions about how things worked
