THOMAS EDISON: MORE THAN JUST BRIGHT

He’s known as the man who invented the lighbulb but there’s much more to Thomas Edison

- LIZ DE VILLIERS

LIKE most adults, he held several jobs throughout his career. But unlike most people, he went on to create over 1000 interesting things. Here’s all about this prolific inventor.

1878

That’s the year Thomas Edison started working on designing the lightbulb. He had success late in 1879 when he produced a working lightbulb, which he patented (registered as his invention) in 1880. We still rely on the humble lightbulb today, which first brought electric light to homes a century and a half ago. 

PATENTS 

Though Edison never attended a formal school, he became an inventor with hundreds of patents in his name – a whopping 1093 in America alone. He bought many of these patents and then went on to adjust and improve the inventions, which means Edison wasn’t only an inventor, he was also a visionary entrepreneur. 

In 1928, his country honoured him with the prestigious American Congress Gold Medal in recognition of his ingenuity. 

CHILDHOOD 

Thomas Alva Edison was born on 11 February 1847 in Milan, Ohio, but grew up in Port Huron, Michigan.

He was the youngest of seven children. His parents were Samuel and Nancy Edison. Nancy was a teacher who home-schooled him.

Edison was eager to learn and very curious, and could read and write at an early age. He read a lot and conducted experiments at home.

At the age of 12, he got his first job as a newspaper and sweet seller on a train. He was already an entrepreneur at an early age and even published his own newspaper on the train.