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Planets

In: Science

Submitted By haeleyburns
Words 549
Pages 3
Born on February 11, 1847, in Milan, Ohio, Thomas Edison is the quintessential American inventor. Before he died, he gave us the phonograph, the transmitter for the telephone speaker, an improved light bulb, and key elements of motion-picture apparatus, as well as other bright inventions. He also created the world's first industrial research laboratory. Edison died on October 18, 1931, in West Orange, New Jersey.

CONTENTS

Synopsis
Younger Years
Early Career
Becoming an Inventor
Edison Illuminating Company
Industrialist and Business Manager
Final Years
QUOTES

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."

– Thomas Edison
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Younger Years

Born on February 11, 1847, in Milan, Ohio, Thomas Alva Edison was the last of the seven children of Samuel and Nancy Edison. Thomas's father was an exiled political activist from Canada. His mother, an accomplished school teacher, was a major influence in Thomas’ early life. An early bout with scarlet fever left him with hearing difficulties in both ears, a malady that would eventually leave him nearly deaf as an adult.

In 1854, the family moved to Port Huron, Michigan, where Edison attended public school for a total of 12 weeks. A hyperactive child, prone to distraction, he was deemed “difficult” by his teacher. His mother quickly pulled him from school and taught him at home. At age 11, he showed a voracious appetite for knowledge, reading books on a wide range of subjects. In this wide-open curriculum Edison developed a process for self-education and learning independently that would serve him throughout his life.

Early Career

At age 12, Edison set out to put much of that education to work. He convinced his parents to let him sell newspapers to passengers along the Grand Trunk Railroad line. Exploiting his access to the news bulletins

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