Thomas Edison was born on February 11, 1847 into a modest family in Milan, Ohio. He was the youngest of seven children. Edison was a poor student. When a schoolmaster called Edison “addled,” his furious mother took him out of the school and proceeded to teach him at home.
Edison said many years later,
“My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me, and I felt I had some one to live for, some one I must not disappoint.”
At an early age, he showed a fascination for mechanical things and for chemical experiments. He was selling newspapers and candy on trains and used the money to fund his experiments.
Around the age of twelve, Edison lost almost all his hearing. There are several theories as to what caused his hearing loss. Some attribute it to the aftereffects of scarlet fever which he had as a child. Edison himself blamed it on an incident in which he was grabbed by his ears and lifted to a train.
He did not let his disability discourage him, however, and often treated it as an asset, since it made it easier for him to concentrate on his experiments and research. Undoubtedly, though, his deafness made him more solitary and shy in dealings with others.
In 1877, Edison invented the phonograph, the first machine that could record and play back sound. When he demonstrated it for the first time, it startled everyone. The machine repeated the phrase he spoke into it:
“Mary had a little lamb.”
People were amazed—and frightened—thinking it was some kind of trick. This invention earned him the nickname “The Wizard of Menlo Park,” referring to his New Jersey laboratory.
But his most transformative work came with his efforts to create a practical and affordable electric light bulb. In 1879, he patented a bulb that could last for hundreds of hours.
Perhaps the most amazing thing about Edison is his relentless pursuit of the electric light bulb. It’s said he tested over 1,000 different materials for the filament before finding one that worked.
When a reporter asked how it felt to fail 1,000 times, Edison replied:
“I have not failed 1,000 times. I have successfully found 1,000 ways that do not work.”
Edison didn’t stop at the light bulb—he also built the infrastructure to deliver electricity. In 1882, he established the first investor-owned electric utility in New York City, launching the modern electric age.
He founded General Electric, which became one of the world’s largest companies.
Edison was known for his relentless work ethic. He often worked long hours. He changed the world with his innovations, making modern life more convenient and accessible. His contributions laid the foundation for many industries—from energy and communication to entertainment.
Edison’s role in life began to change from inventor and industrialist to cultural icon, a symbol of American ingenuity. In 1928, in recognition of a lifetime of achievement, the United States Congress voted Edison a special Medal of Honor.
In 1929 the nation celebrated the golden jubilee of the incandescent light. The celebration culminated at a banquet honoring Edison given by Henry Ford at Greenfield Village, Ford’s new American history museum, which included a complete restoration of the Menlo Park Laboratory. Attendees included President Herbert Hoover and many of the leading American scientists and inventors.
The last experimental work of Edison’s life was done at the request of Edison’s good friends Henry Ford, and Harvey Firestone in the late 1920s. They asked Edison to find an alternative source of rubber for use in automobile tires. The natural rubber used for tires up to that time came from the rubber tree, which does not grow in the United States.
Crude rubber had to be imported and was becoming increasingly expensive. With his customary energy and thoroughness, Edison tested thousands of different plants to find a suitable substitute, eventually finding a type of Goldenrod weed that could produce enough rubber to be feasible. Edison was still working on this at the time of his death.
Thomas Edison passed away at the age of 84. In his honor, electric lights across the United States were dimmed. Today, Edison is remembered not just as an inventor but as a visionary who lit up the world—literally and figuratively.
“Unfortunately, there seems to be far more opportunity out there than ability… We should remember that good fortune often happens when opportunity meets with preparation.”
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
“The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.”