Thomas Edison
The Wizard of Menlo Park
Edison's Early Entrepreneurship
- Age 12 Thomas Edison began selling newspapers to the railroad
- Age 15 Edison began doing experiments in a train car
- Age 16 he took up a job as a telegraph operator
- Age 21 Edison acquired his first patent, which was a vote recorder
- Age 22 Edison improved telegraph equipment, which was first financial success, and the stock ticker
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Later Life Entrepreneurship
- At age 30 Edison invented the Phonograph, which was his first invention to get him recognized
- Edison's next major innovation was the first industrial research lab
- At age 33 Edison produced public incandescent light, and started the Electric Age
- At age 40 Edison sold shares of The Edison General Electric Company, which today is General Electric, to J.P. Morgan and the Vanderbilt family
- While inventing electric lighting he also invented power generating stations for the lights he created
- At age 44 Edison invented the Kinetograph, which was the first movie projector
- At age 62 Edison finished an alkaline battery that made him a great deal of money
- In his late 70's Edison found an alternative rubber source for Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone
Edison's Death
- On the day of Edison's funeral the United States dimmed their lights in honor of him
- Credited for helping build the nation's economy during a vulnerable time period
- Edison was considered America's leading business man during his lifetime
- By the end of Edison's life he had 1,093 patents for his inventions
- Many of Edison's inventions, with modifications, are still used today and will be used for many years to come