Thomas Edison

By Ben Grace
Early Life

• 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

• 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
• 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
• 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

• Edison opened a factory to make his inventions.

• He invented important things there, such as:
– 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

• 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

• 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