Edward - Thomas Edison: 27 Amazing Success Lessons to Learn from Thomas Edison

1. Thomas Edison
2. Amazing success lessons from Thomas Edison
3. 10 famous quotes by Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison is an iconic inventor, businessman and world changer. He created the world changing inventions, such as the light bulb and began industries; such as playable music.

Early life

Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio to Samuel Ogden Edison, Jr. and Nancy Matthews Elliott. He was homeschooled by his mother. Much of his education came from reading The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and R.G. Parkers School of Natural Philosophy.

Edison developed hearing problems right from early age. The cause of his deafness was scarlet fever during childhood and recurring untreated middle ear infections.

His family moved to Port Huron, Michigan, after the railroad bypassed Milan in 1854 and business declined. He then sold candy and newspapers on trains and sold vegetables to supplement his income. He studied qualitative analysis, and conducted chemical experiments on the train until an accident prohibited further work of that sort. He obtained the exclusive rights to sell newspapers on the road and with the help of 4 assistants, he set in type and printed, The Grand Trunk Herald, which he sold with other news papers. This is was his first entrepreneurial venture.

Progression into work

While working on the rail road, a near tragic incident left him with the initial spark leading to his future work in electronics. Having saved a 3 year old from the accident, the childs father rewarded him with teaching him how to use the telegraph.

By age 15, he was well acquainted with telegraph use and knew enough to be employed as a Telegraph operator. He studied and experimented with telegraph technology and electrical science which marked his beginning in Electronics.

Edison initially excelled at Telegraph with its messages on paper but later they became more common to use clicks and noises to communicate messages leaving deaf Edison to a disadvantage.

In 1868, he ventured to Boston, which was the centre for science and culture at that time and got a job at Western Union Company. He was designing an electronic voting recorder for speedy tallying votes in the legislature, in his spare time. But after completion and patenting, lawmakers were not interested due to political reason.

Becoming an inventor

In 1869, he moved to New York City and developed a stock ticker called the Universal Stock Printer, which synchronized several stock tickers transactions. He was paid $40000 for the rights by The Gold and Stock Telegraph Company. After this he quit his job as a telegrapher and started on his inventions. He used the money to set up his first lab and manufacturing facility in Newark, New Jersey in 1870 and employed several machinists. It was a first for its time and was what we would now call an Incubator.

He formed many partnerships and started developing and producing his products for the highest bidder, usually Western Union Telegraph Company.

In January 1880, he was granted a patent for a revolutionary new invention, the light bulb, which changed the world and human civilization. After this he supplied the needed electricity to power the towns and cities and founded the Edison Illuminating Company, which later became General Electric Corporation.

In 1887, he built another industrial research lab in West Orange, New Jersey which became the primary research lab for the Edison lighting companies. Here he finalized the alkaline storage battery, phonograph and motion picture camera.

On April 23 rd 1896, he became the first person ever to project a motion picture

On October 18 th 1931, Edison died at the age of 84 of diabetes complication in his home in West Orange, New Jersey. Communities and companies throughout the world dimmed their lights in recognition of his life and passing away.