Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison was more responsible than any one else for creating the modern world ....  No one did more to shape the physical/cultural makeup of  present day civilization.... Accordingly, he was the most influential figure of the millennium...."  

The Heroes Of The Age: Electricity And Man.American inventor, b. Milan, Ohio. A genius in the practical application of scientific principles, Edison was one of the greatest and most productive inventors of his time.


His popular inventions are :
Invented the electrical vote recorder. 1868.
Invented the universal stock ticker and the unison stop.1872.
Invented the motograph, automatic telegraph system, duplex, quadruplex, sextuplex, and multiplex telegraph systems, paraffin paper, carbon rheostat. 1872
Discovered "Etheric Force," an electric phenomenon that is the foundation of wireless telegraphy. 1875
Invented the electric pen used for the first mimeographs. 1876.

Invented the carbon telephone transmitter, making telephony commercially practical. This included the microphone used in radio.   Invented the phonograph. This was Edison's favorite invention. He sponsored the Edison Phonograph Polka to help popularize the new device.1877.
Discovered incandescent light and a system of distribution, regulation, and measurement of electric current-switches, fuses, sockets, and meters.  Radically improved dynamos and generators.1879.

Here is a beautiful 50 Year Commemorative Edison Light bulb. This beautiful replica of Edison's first lamp has a wood base, is 6.75 inches tall and has a 2.25 inch diameter globe. It also has a perfect helical carbon filament, crisp clear glass and is in exceptional working condition. In 1879 Edison made his first successful incandescent lamp. After "50 years" of success, a working replica of Edison's 1879 lamp, the First Edison Light Bulb Commemorative, was offered to the public in October of 1929. The great depression occurred just days after this 50 year Edison Commemoration Lamp was put on sale for the first time. These replica Edison lamps did not sell well as a result. That history makes the 50 Year Commemorative Edison Light bulb perhaps the most collectable electric lighting product produced in the 1920's.Invented the magnetic ore separator.
Discovered the "Edison Effect," the fundamental principle of electronics.1880.
Discovered a system of wireless induction telegraph between moving trains and stations. He also patented similar systems for ship-to-shore use. 1885.
Invented the motion picture camera.1891.
Invented the fluoroscope. the fluorescent electric lamp.1896.
Invented the nickel-iron-alkaline storage battery. 1900.
Invented the electric safety miner's lamp.  Discovered the process for manufacturing synthetic carbolic acid. 1914.
Conducted special experiments on more than 40 major war problems for the Navy Department. Edison served as Chairman of the Naval Consulting Board and did much other work on National Defense.1915.
Tested 17,000 plants for rubber content as a source of rubber in war emergencies. A piece of vulcanized rubber was made from a Goldenrod strain he developed.1927-1931.