Invented the phonograph, the incandescent electric lightbulb, the alkaline storage battery among other things. He held more than 900 patents and laid the foundation for the modern electric age.


Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, 1973 (sole charter inductee). When he lay dying at his home in New Jersey, newspaper reporters were anxiously awaiting a sign from his wife of his death. She signaled Edison's passing by turing a light ON, not off, in his bedroom. Reportedly drank "wine coca" (a medicinal tonic made from coca leaves, the same type of coca that cocaine is extracted from) during marathon research sessions that ran into the night. Enjoyed communication with Morse Code so much, that he proposed marriage to his girlfriend in it, and nicknamed his children "Dot" and "Dash". In his later years, he often committed social faux pas by making racist and anti-Semitic comments before the press. Is venerated by a sect of the Shinto faith as "the god of electrcity". Is credited with the invention of sprocketed cinema film. Other inventions to his credit include celophane tape, waxed paper, an improved version of the typewriter keyboard, and "the electric pencil", a forerunner to today's fax machine. While he is often erroneously credited with the invention of the incandescent light bulb, he only perfected it. Similar bulbs were already in existence, but they were expensive, did not last long, and gave off a bad smell. By developing a low-cost, long-lasting, carbonized cotton filament, he made electrical light cheap enough to be financially practical. The last years of his life were plagued by financial failures, including plans to make houses out of poured formed concrete (it never caught on with the public) and making rubber from goldenrod (it decomposed too quickly). Awarded a Congressional Gold Medal, 29 May 1928 (45 Stat. 1012). Father of Charles Edison. Edison's son allegedly captured his last breath in a glass jar. The jar is on display at the reconstructed Menlo Park at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. Invented the cylinder recorder (phonograph) but it was Emile Berliner who created the flat disc, Edison licensed the patent(s) from him. His father, Samuel Edison, was of Dutch ancestry and his mother, Nancy Elliot, was of English decent. Elected to the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2007 for his services to technology (inaugural election). Official induction ceremonies held in May 2008. By 1876, he had amassed $40,000 through the sale of various telegraphic devices. His second patent, an improved stock indicator machine, was sold to Western Union for $40,000.