Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio on February 11, 1847.  He was the seventh and youngest child in his family.  Thomas was very curious and he liked to ask questions all the time.  When he turned seven, his family moved to Port Huron, Michigan. 

After he moved to Michigan, Thomas went to school for the first time, but he stopped not long after.  Thomas was not an average student.  He drew in his notebook and didn’t pay attention in class.  He always asked questions instead of answering them.  The teachers thought he was confused and they didn’t know how to teach him.  Thomas’ mother decided to pull him out of school and to teach him herself because she used to be a teacher.  His favorite subject was Science.  Thomas always read books about Science and Chemistry and he even had a laboratory in his basement.  He had little bottles of chemicals and he liked to mix them together to see what would happen. 

          When Thomas was twelve, he got his first job selling snacks, newspapers, and tobacco on trains.  One day the stationmaster’s son was playing on the tracks as a train was coming near, so Thomas grabbed the young boy and saved him before the train hit him.  In return, the stationmaster taught Thomas telegraphy.  In 1863, Thomas was sixteen and got a part-time job as a telegraph operator.  While working the night shift, Thomas had to send the Morse code signal every half hour so his boss could be sure that he was working.  Thomas connected a clock and rigged the telegraph so the Morse code signal would be sent automatically.  One night, his boss caught Thomas sleeping and told him to work or get another job.

In 1871 on Christmas Day, Thomas married sixteen year old Mary Stilwell.  They had three children named Marion Estelle, Thomas Alva Jr., and William Leslie.  Thomas nicknamed their first two children Dot and Dash after the Morse code. 

In 1875, Thomas and his family moved to Menlo Park, New Jersey where he built his first big laboratory.  He invented many things including the mimeograph machine and the phonograph and he improved the light bulb.  The original light bulb was too bright for the human eye and it burnt out very quickly.  Thomas made a light bulb that lasted longer and had more of a glow to it.  He also perfected the telephone.  Alexander Graham Bell had already invented the telephone but the sound was weak.  Thomas discovered that small pieces of carbon could send a clear and loud sound.  He received many patents for his inventions and he was nicknamed “The Wizard of Menlo Park.”

In 1884, Mary Stilwell died.  Two years later, Thomas married Mina Miller.  Together they had three children and named them Madeleine, Charles, and Theodore. 

In 1887 Thomas, Mina, and their three children moved to West Orange, New Jersey where Thomas built an even bigger laboratory than the one in Menlo Park.  In West Orange, Thomas invented America’s first X-ray, improved the battery that recharged itself, and made the kinetograph, America’s first motion picture.

On October 18, 1931, Thomas Edison died at the age of 84.  He had wished to live to be 100.  The day he was buried, Americans turned off electric lights for one minute to honor him.   We should be thankful for Thomas Edison’s inventions because they help us today. 
       

Bibliography

Adler, D. A.  (1990).  Thomas Alva Edison, Great Inventor: A First Biography.  New York, NY: Holiday House.   

Ford, C. T.  (2002).  Thomas Edison: Inventor.  Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc.

Nirgiotis, N.  (1994).  Cornerstones of Freedom: Thomas Edison.  Chicago, IL: Childrens Press.