The wizard of Menlo Park (1ro Medio)

THE WIZARD OF MENLO PARK

Thomas A. Edison was born on Feb. 11, 1847, in Ohio, USA. At 12, Tom became an “adult”, and started his own business selling fruits and vegetables. He had also devoured The World Dictionary of Science and many works on Practical Chemistry. At the age of 15, Tom obtained a job as a replacement for one of the telegraph operators who had gone off to the Civil War. At 16, he finally came up with his first authentic invention, an “automatic repeater”, which transmitted telegraph signals between stations. However, he never patented the initial version of this idea. In those days, Tom toiled 12 hours a day, six days a week for Western Union while he worked on his own projects. He received his first patent for a beautifully constructed electric voice-recording machine which turned out to be a disaster. Edison then went to New York, where he developed the telegraph, the quadruple transmitter and the stock-ticker.  Over the next three years, Edison’s progress really took off. In 1874, he opened his first laboratory in Newark, New Jersey. In 1876, he moved his laboratory to Menlo Park, New Jersey. In 1877 he invented the first phonograph and in 1879, the first incandescent electric light bulb. The Edison General Electric Co. became the great General Electric Corporation in 1892 when it merged with another firm. With the beginning of the XX century, Edison finally began to slow down. He obtained his last (1,093rd) patent when he was 83. He died on October, 18th, 1931 in New Jersey. Shortly before passing away, he awoke and whispered to his wife Mina who was by his side: “It is very beautiful over there.” Thomas Edison was more responsible than anyone else for creating the modern world.