Thomas Edison
By Ben Grace
Early Life
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Thomas Edison was born on February 11th, 1847.
He started out in Milan, Ohio.
Young Thomas was not a very good student.
As a boy, Edison used to work on the Grand Trunk Railroad.
He made explosions in his basement by mixing chemicals. This made
his parents very mad!
His mom taught him at home.
Early Life
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Thomas Edison Did not go to High School. He liked to learn things on
his own.
He grew up near Lake Huron.
Edison wrote that he had not heard a bird sing since
he was 12 because he developed bad hearing.
Early Life
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He made his own telegraph and hooked the other part to his friend’s
house. They sent messages to eachother.
When he was 13 he went to work for the Grand Trunk Railroad. He sold
snacks and newspapers.
Tom started his own newspaper, which was very successful. He set up
a small printing press on the train.
Accomplishments
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In his 20’s, Edison became a telegraph operator.
He became very good at it.
Edison made major improvements to the telegraph. His duplex
telegraph sent double messages.
Thomas Edison improved Bell’s telephone. He made it sound clearer.
Edison called his phonograph “genius”.
Edison accomplished his achievements through determination and hard
work.
Accomplishments
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Edison opened a factory to make his inventions.
He invented important things there, such as:
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The light bulb
The phonograph with a wax cylinder.
The first movie projector.
More improvements on the telegraph.
He found a way to control electrical currents.
The Light Bulb
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Edison tried different metals until he found the right one.
The light bulb is Edison’s most famous invention.
He experimented for more than two years trying to make it work.
He put alcohol inside his light bulb.
His light bulbs work with filaments.
He used cotton thread for wire.
The light bulb works by two wires (filament) in the shape
of a horse shoe and the two wires burn to make light.
Electricity heats up the wires.
War of the Currents
Edison vs. Tesla
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Electric current is a flow of electric charge
through a medium, such as metal.
Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla and George
Westinghouse had fights over electrical currents.
Tesla worked for Edison, but didn’t get paid enough.
Tesla used math for his inventions.
Tesla invented ”AC” using math.
“AC” stands for “alternating current”,
which is used to carry electricity.
Thomas Edison