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88-531: Interest in Edison 's phonograph was almost immediate in Britain. In 1879, Edison appointed George Edward Gouraud to represent Edison's European interests in the phonograph and telephone. Edison's overseas plans for his phonograph did not go smoothly, as Gouraud made a significant amount of money exhibiting the phonograph in ways of which met disapproval from Edison. Gouraud was successful at promoting awareness of

176-736: A botanical laboratory in Fort Myers, Florida , in collaboration with businessmen Henry Ford and Harvey S. Firestone , and a laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey , that featured the world's first film studio , the Black Maria . With 1,093 US patents in his name , as well as patents in other countries, Edison is regarded as the most prolific inventor in American history. Edison married twice and fathered six children. He died in 1931 due to complications from diabetes . Thomas Edison

264-475: A "chunk of it". The representatives decided to give a cubic foot of solid copper weighing 486 pounds with their gratitude inscribed on it in appreciation for his part in the "continuous stimulation in the copper industry". Edison is credited with designing and producing the first commercially available fluoroscope , a machine that uses X-rays to take radiographs . Until Edison discovered that calcium tungstate fluoroscopy screens produced brighter images than

352-401: A $ 50-a-week profit by age 13, most of which went to buying equipment for electrical and chemical experiments. At age 15, in 1862, he saved 3-year-old Jimmie MacKenzie from being struck by a runaway train. Jimmie's father, station agent J. U. MacKenzie of Mount Clemens, Michigan , was so grateful that he trained Edison as a telegraph operator. Edison's first telegraphy job away from Port Huron

440-471: A bid. He was surprised to hear them offer $ 10,000 ($ 269,294 in 2023), which he gratefully accepted. The quadruplex telegraph was Edison's first big financial success, and Menlo Park became the first institution set up with the specific purpose of producing constant technological innovation and improvement. Edison was legally credited with most of the inventions produced there, though many employees carried out research and development under his direction. His staff

528-574: A businessman. Ultimately, his entrepreneurship was central to the formation of some 14 companies, including General Electric , formerly one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world. In 1866, at the age of 19, Edison moved to Louisville, Kentucky , where, as an employee of Western Union , he worked the Associated Press bureau news wire . Edison requested the night shift, which allowed him plenty of time to spend at his two favorite pastimes—reading and experimenting. Eventually,

616-463: A chemistry course at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art to support his work on a new telegraphy system with Charles Batchelor . This appears to have been his only enrollment in courses at an institution of higher learning. Thomas Edison began his career as a news butcher , selling newspapers, candy, and vegetables on trains running from Port Huron to Detroit. He turned

704-436: A child, he became fascinated with technology and spent hours working on experiments at home. Edison developed hearing problems at the age of 12. The cause of his deafness has been attributed to a bout of scarlet fever during childhood and recurring untreated middle-ear infections . He subsequently concocted elaborate fictitious stories about the cause of his deafness. He was completely deaf in one ear and barely hearing in

792-582: A coiled platinum filament but the high cost of platinum kept the bulb from becoming a commercial success. Many other inventors had also devised incandescent lamps, including Alessandro Volta 's demonstration of a glowing wire in 1800 and inventions by Henry Woodward and Mathew Evans . Others who developed early and commercially impractical incandescent electric lamps included Humphry Davy , James Bowman Lindsay , Moses G. Farmer , William E. Sawyer , Joseph Swan , and Heinrich Göbel . These early bulbs all had flaws such as an extremely short life and requiring

880-688: A commercially viable electric light bulb on October 21, 1879, Edison developed an electric " utility " to compete with the existing gas light utilities. On December 17, 1880, he founded the Edison Illuminating Company , and during the 1880s, he patented a system for electricity distribution . The company established the first investor-owned electric utility. On September 4, 1882, in Pearl Street , New York City, his 600 kW cogeneration steam-powered generating station, Pearl Street Station 's, electrical power distribution system

968-419: A continuous wavy line as the needle cuts at different depths according to the tone and the loudness of the audio being recorded. These grooves show a transition from high to low peak as a smooth curve, giving the characteristic rounded 'hill and dale' effect to the groove, similar to the appearance of many geographic areas. Recording is by mechanical means and the vibrations from acoustic energy, transferred to

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1056-421: A cutting needle, make the needle cut a deeper or shallower groove. It is necessary to set the parameters of the cutting depth accurately: too shallow a groove on silent sections and the playback device, also a needle, will slip out of place; too deep a groove risks cutting through the thin layer of recording medium and/or creating excessive wear when the recording is played back. Due to mechanical noise generated by

1144-521: A draftsman and an expert witness in patent litigation, began working for the United States Electric Lighting Company run by Edison's rival Hiram S. Maxim . While working for Maxim, Latimer invented a process for making carbon filaments for light bulbs and helped install broad-scale lighting systems for New York City, Philadelphia, Montreal, and London. Latimer holds the patent for the electric lamp issued in 1881, and

1232-541: A grooved cylinder. Despite its limited sound quality and that the recordings could be played only a few times, the phonograph made Edison a celebrity. Joseph Henry , president of the National Academy of Sciences and one of the most renowned electrical scientists in the US, described Edison as "the most ingenious inventor in this country... or in any other". In April 1878, Edison traveled to Washington to demonstrate

1320-402: A high electric current to operate which made them difficult to apply on a large scale commercially. In his first attempts to solve these problems, Edison tried using a filament made of cardboard, carbonized with compressed lampblack. This burnt out too quickly to provide lasting light. He then experimented with different grasses and canes such as hemp, and palmetto, before settling on bamboo as

1408-415: A large part of the market without electrical service. AC companies expanded into this gap. Edison expressed views that AC was unworkable and the high voltages used were dangerous. As George Westinghouse installed his first AC systems in 1886, Thomas Edison struck out personally against his chief rival stating, " Just as certain as death, Westinghouse will kill a customer within six months after he puts in

1496-567: A large portion of their phonograph supply. Edison Bell concentrated for a time on making cylinders, and was able to largely cut National Phonograph out of the British cylinder market through such tactics as price reductions and creating a slightly larger cylinder than was then standard, yet still fit on a standard mandrel. The war between Edison Bell and National migrated to the courts in 1907, when National sued to enjoin Edison Bell from using

1584-623: A much earlier date than Edison, as they cooperated with The Lambert Co. rather than attempting to freeze them out entirely from the market. A 1906 trade war between the Edison Bell and the National Phonograph Co. was largely waged in the trade papers "The Talking Machine News" in London and The Talking Machine World" in New York. The war of words in the press eventually led to a blacklisting of Edison Bell by National, cutting off

1672-561: A number of nearby private dwellings, but was shut down in September 1886 as uneconomic, since he was unable to extend the premises. On January 19, 1883, the first standardized incandescent electric lighting system employing overhead wires began service in Roselle, New Jersey . As Edison expanded his direct current (DC) power delivery system, he received stiff competition from companies installing alternating current (AC) systems. From

1760-554: A scroll displaying pictures moved in a compartment located behind the record. Hough died in February 1925, and his sons took over management of the company. Edison Bell acquired Beltona Records in 1927, then released recordings originating from Winner to their new subsidiary for a higher-quality record brand named "Electron", from 1927 to 1929. Edison Bell International, Ltd. was formed in 1928 to manage all activities outside of North America. The eight-inch Edison Bell Radio label

1848-552: A second patent for the "process of manufacturing carbons" (the filament used in incandescent light bulbs), issued in 1882. On October 8, 1883, the US patent office ruled that Edison's patent was based on the work of William E. Sawyer and was, therefore, invalid. Litigation continued for nearly six years. In 1885, Latimer switched camps and started working with Edison. On October 6, 1889, a judge ruled that Edison's electric light improvement claim for "a filament of carbon of high resistance"

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1936-412: A share of the cylinder record market by acquiring rival cylinder company Sterling and Hunting. Ltd. Edison Bell cylinders were marketed under the several names, including Grand Concert, Indestructible Ebony, London, Popular, and Standard. The Edison Bell company went into bankruptcy in 1909, and manufacture of Edison Bell gramophones and records was taken over by J.E. Hough, Ltd. but in such manner that

2024-466: A system of any size. He has got a new thing and it will require a great deal of experimenting to get it working practically. " Many reasons have been suggested for Edison's anti-AC stance. One notion is that the inventor could not grasp the more abstract theories behind AC and was trying to avoid developing a system he did not understand. Edison also appeared to have been worried about the high voltage from misinstalled AC systems killing customers and hurting

2112-598: Is notably the first US patent for an electronic device due to its use of an Edison effect bulb as an active component . Subsequent scientists studied, applied, and eventually evolved the bulbs into vacuum tubes , a core component of early analog and digital electronics of the 20th century. In 1878, Edison formed the Edison Electric Light Company in New York City with several financiers, including J. P. Morgan , Spencer Trask , and

2200-582: Is now the Czech Republic), opened in 1882, and was the first public building in the world to use Edison's electric lamps. Francis Jehl , Edison's assistant in the invention of the lamp, supervised the installation. In September 2010, a sculpture of three giant light bulbs was erected in Brno, in front of the theater. The first Edison light bulbs in the Nordic countries were installed at the weaving hall of

2288-500: Is registered on 1,093 patents. Edison began his career as an inventor in Newark, New Jersey , with the automatic repeater and his other improved telegraphic devices, but the invention that first gained him wider notice was the phonograph in 1877. This accomplishment was so unexpected by the public at large as to appear almost magical. Edison became known as "The Wizard of Menlo Park". His first phonograph recorded on tinfoil around

2376-586: The Columbia . Although hesitant at first, Edison agreed to Villard's request. Most of the work was completed in May 1880, and the Columbia went to New York City, where Edison and his personnel installed Columbia 's new lighting system. The Columbia was Edison's first commercial application for his incandescent light bulb. The Edison equipment was removed from Columbia in 1895. In 1880, Lewis Latimer ,

2464-530: The 1st Middlesex Militia during the War of 1812. His father, Samuel Edison Jr. moved to Vienna, Ontario , and fled to Ohio after his involvement in the Rebellion of 1837 . Edison was taught reading, writing, and arithmetic by his mother, a former school teacher. He attended school for only a few months. However, one biographer described him as a very curious child who learned most things by reading on his own. As

2552-691: The Edison Bell Consolidated Phonograph Company , at Charing Cross Road in London. Sales up to this point had been decidedly sluggish. The American trade paper The Phonoscope blamed Edison Bell's "exorbitant" prices, as the equipment was twice as expensive in England as it was in the United States. Edison Bell was thus assigned patent rights in Australia, China, Japan, South America, and most importantly

2640-794: The Finlayson 's textile factory in Tampere, Finland in March 1882. In 1901, Edison attended the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York . His company, the Edison Manufacturing Company , was given the task of installing the electric lights on the various buildings and structures that were built for the exposition. At night Edison made a panorama photograph of the illuminated buildings. After devising

2728-535: The Thomson-Houston Electric Company of Lynn, Massachusetts (another AC-based competitor) built 22 power stations. Parallel to expanding competition between Edison and the AC companies was rising public furor over a series of deaths in the spring of 1888 caused by pole mounted high voltage alternating current lines. This turned into a media frenzy against high voltage alternating current and

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2816-400: The lateral recording system which uses a stylus that cuts side-to-side across a record. The vertical recording process, also known as the hill and dale process, was used to record phonograph cylinder records as well as Edison Disc Records , Pathé disc records , and disc records made by numerous smaller companies. Vertical cut recording was also used as a means of copyright protection by

2904-407: The 1880s that used wax-coated cardboard cylinders. In 1876, Edison began work to improve the microphone for telephones (at that time called a "transmitter") by developing a carbon microphone , which consists of two metal plates separated by granules of carbon that would change resistance with the pressure of sound waves. A steady direct current is passed between the plates through the granules and

2992-609: The 1889 merger that formed Edison General Electric. In 1890 he told president Henry Villard he thought it was time to retire from the lighting business and moved on to an iron ore refining project that preoccupied his time. Edison's dogmatic anti-AC values were no longer controlling the company. By 1889 Edison's Electric's own subsidiaries were lobbying to add AC power transmission to their systems and in October 1890 Edison Machine Works began developing AC-based equipment. Cut-throat competition and patent battles were bleeding off cash in

3080-543: The Bell-Tainter patents expired, and Edison Bell went through a further reorganization that allowed the Thomas Edison company to import or manufacture their own product without any oversight from Edison Bell. The National Phonograph Company (i.e. American Edison) was assigned the rights to Thomas Edison's signature, and National, Edison Bell, Pathé and Sterling were the major producers of phonograph cylinders in

3168-641: The Edison and Bell-Tainter interests were merged into a new company in Britain. The Edison Bell Phonograph Corporation, Ltd. was set up in October 1892 to handle Edison's phonograph manufacturing rights in Great Britain. In November of that year, the Edison Bell Phonograph Company was formed with headquarters at Bartholomew Lane in London. Edison Bell was given the exclusive right to manufacture phonographs in Britain, including

3256-475: The Goldenrod plant. Edison decided on Solidago leavenworthii , also known as Leavenworth's Goldenrod. The plant, which normally grows roughly 3–4 feet tall with a 5% latex yield, was adapted by Edison through cross-breeding to produce plants twice the size and with a latex yield of 12%. During the 1911 New York Electrical show, Edison told representatives of the copper industry it was a shame he did not have

3344-634: The US electrical business and would compete with Westinghouse for the AC market. Edison served as a figurehead on the company's board of directors for a few years before selling his shares. Edison moved from Menlo Park after the death of his first wife, Mary, in 1884, and purchased a home known as " Glenmont " in 1886 as a wedding gift for his second wife, Mina , in Llewellyn Park in West Orange, New Jersey . In 1885, Thomas Edison bought 13 acres of property in Fort Myers , Florida, for roughly $ 2,750 (equivalent to $ 93,256 in 2023) and built what

3432-472: The United Kingdom. This version of the company sold phonographs and records, while a new organization, Edisonia, Ltd. was created to be the manufacturing arm of Edison Bell. Edison Bell was now the sole corporation with rights to distribute phonographs and Graphophones within Britain. As such, they distributed machines and records made by Edison, Columbia , Pathé , and Puck until 1902. In 1900

3520-424: The barium platinocyanide screens originally used by Wilhelm Röntgen , the technology was capable of producing only very faint images. The fundamental design of Edison's fluoroscope is still in use today, although Edison abandoned the project after nearly losing his own eyesight and seriously injuring his assistant, Clarence Dally . Dally made himself an enthusiastic human guinea pig for the fluoroscopy project and

3608-409: The best filament. Edison continued trying to improve this design and on November 4, 1879, filed for U.S. patent 223,898 (granted on January 27, 1880) for an electric lamp using "a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected to platina contact wires". The patent described several ways of creating the carbon filament including "cotton and linen thread, wood splints, papers coiled in various ways". It

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3696-428: The competing companies and the idea of a merger was being put forward in financial circles. The War of Currents ended in 1892 when the financier J.P. Morgan engineered a merger of Edison General Electric with its main alternating current based rival, The Thomson-Houston Company, that put the board of Thomson-Houston in charge of the new company called General Electric . General Electric now controlled three-quarters of

3784-591: The cost of interior furnishings. Edison and Mina spent many winters at their home in Fort Myers, and Edison tried to find a domestic source of natural rubber. Due to the security concerns around World War I , Edison suggested forming a science and industry committee to provide advice and research to the US military, and he headed the Naval Consulting Board in 1915. Edison became concerned with America's reliance on foreign supply of rubber and

3872-436: The critical parameters of his electric lighting system including lamp resistance by an analysis of Ohm's law , Joule's law and economics. Nearly all of Edison's patents were utility patents, which were protected for 17 years and included inventions or processes that are electrical, mechanical, or chemical in nature. About a dozen were design patents , which protect an ornamental design for up to 14 years. As in most patents,

3960-517: The device violated their patents, even before William Barry Owen arrived in London to promote the device. Edison Bell spent similar efforts engaged in patent disputes with other would-be phonograph manufacturers, including the Edisonia company run by James E. Hough, a former sewing-machine salesman from Manchester. Hough and Edison Bell eventually came to a mutual agreement and Edison Bell and Edisonia were merged under Stephen Moriarty in 1898 to become

4048-435: The early Muzak 16-inch background music discs. In this process the stylus makes a vertical cut, its depth determined in accordance with the current in the recording coil. The grooves of vertically cut records have a constant separation and varying depth, as opposed to grooves of laterally cut records, which have a varying distance of separation and constant depth. Examining a vertically cut groove along its length reveals

4136-539: The early 1880s, AC arc lighting systems for streets and large spaces had been an expanding business in the US. With the development of transformers in Europe and by Westinghouse Electric in the US in 1885–1886, it became possible to transmit AC long distances over thinner and cheaper wires, and "step down" (reduce) the voltage at the destination for distribution to users. This allowed AC to be used in street lighting and in lighting for small business and domestic customers,

4224-435: The early 1900s. Edison Bell introduced "Gold Moulded" (mass-produced from a master, as opposed to individually-recorded) cylinders in 1901. In 1904 Edison Bell began building their own phonographs, rather than importing or re-branding machines from other manufacturers. Edison Bell's cylinders, each announced by Harry Bluff, sold very well at this point Edison Bell also acquired the rights to manufacture celluloid cylinders at

4312-503: The few gramophones of the era with a British-made motor mechanism. The laterally-cut Edison Bell disc label first appeared May 1908. These had a diameter of 10.5 inches and were until the original series was discontinued November 1912 just shy of 500 issues. A few months after the 1908 introduction of the Edison Bell disc records, another disc record label was introduced. Phonadisc Records were vertically cut , and were smaller in diameter at 8.75 inches. That year Edison Bell consolidated

4400-509: The general public was highly unlikely to notice. Edison Bell as an entity was formally liquidated in 1910. In 1912 the Edison Bell Winner label was introduced by a Hough syndicate named The Winner Record Co. , with catalog numbers beginning at #2000. This label was aimed at the budget market and remained active until 1935. Meanwhile production of cylinder records ceased in 1914. A later gramophone model made by Edison Bell which

4488-482: The incandescent electric lamp and was put in charge of tests and records on that device. In 1880, he was appointed chief engineer of the Edison Lamp Works. In his first year, the plant under general manager Francis Robbins Upton turned out 50,000 lamps. According to Edison, Hammer was "a pioneer of incandescent electric lighting". Frank J. Sprague , a competent mathematician and former naval officer ,

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4576-408: The inventions he described were improvements over prior art . The phonograph patent, in contrast, was unprecedented in describing the first device to record and reproduce sounds. In just over a decade, Edison's Menlo Park laboratory had expanded to occupy two city blocks. Edison said he wanted the lab to have "a stock of almost every conceivable material". A newspaper article printed in 1887 reveals

4664-498: The latter preoccupation cost him his job. One night in 1867, he was working with a lead–acid battery when he spilt sulfuric acid onto the floor. It ran between the floorboards and onto his boss's desk below. The next morning Edison was fired. His first patent was for the electric vote recorder, U.S. patent 90,646 , which was granted on June 1, 1869. Finding little demand for the machine, Edison moved to New York City shortly thereafter. One of his mentors during those early years

4752-440: The list goes on. Over his desk Edison displayed a placard with Sir Joshua Reynolds ' famous quotation: "There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the real labor of thinking." This slogan was reputedly posted at several other locations throughout the facility. In Menlo Park, Edison had created the first industrial laboratory concerned with creating knowledge and then controlling its application. Edison's name

4840-468: The market Edison's patented low voltage DC incandescent lamp system was designed to supply. Edison's DC empire suffered from one of its chief drawbacks: it was suitable only for the high density of customers found in large cities. Edison's DC plants could not deliver electricity to customers more than one mile from the plant, and left a patchwork of unsupplied customers between plants. Small cities and rural areas could not afford an Edison style system, leaving

4928-680: The members of the Vanderbilt family . Edison made the first public demonstration of his incandescent light bulb on December 31, 1879, in Menlo Park. It was during this time that he said: "We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles." Henry Villard , president of the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company , attended Edison's 1879 demonstration. Villard was impressed and requested Edison install his electric lighting system aboard Villard's company's new steamer,

5016-426: The name "Edison". Edison Bell was able to easily defend against this action, as the original contract which established Edison Bell not only allowed the use of the name 'Edison' on all products, but actually required it! In 1908 Edison Bell introduced the "Discaphone", a machine that would play both laterally and vertically-cut disc records. This model was made into the 1920s, and has the distinction of being one of

5104-422: The other. It is alleged that Edison would listen to a music player or piano by clamping his teeth into the wood to absorb the sound waves into his skull. As he got older, Edison believed his hearing loss allowed him to avoid distraction and concentrate more easily on his work. Modern-day historians and medical professionals have suggested he may have had ADHD . It is known that early in his career he enrolled in

5192-423: The phonograph before the National Academy of Sciences, Congressmen, Senators and President Hayes . The Washington Post described Edison as a " genius " and his presentation as "a scene... that will live in history". Although Edison obtained a patent for the phonograph in 1878, he did little to develop it until Alexander Graham Bell , Chichester Bell , and Charles Tainter produced a phonograph-like device in

5280-478: The phonograph, but was not very good at selling the apparatus. Additionally, legal trouble arose regarding the patents of Chichester Bell and Charles Sumner Tainter , in that Edison's original patent was for recording via indenting the surface, while the Bell-Tainter patents allowed for incising the recording surface. A negotiation for Gouraud's resignation brought the desired results, and as they were in America,

5368-426: The physics of loose-contact carbon transmitters (work that Hughes did not bother to patent). Edison used the carbon microphone concept in 1877 to create an improved telephone for Western Union . In 1886, Edison found a way to improve a Bell Telephone microphone, one that used loose-contact ground carbon, with his discovery that it worked far better if the carbon was roasted . This type was put in use in 1890 and

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5456-614: The principles of organized science and teamwork to the process of invention, working with many researchers and employees. He established the first industrial research laboratory . Edison was raised in the American Midwest . Early in his career he worked as a telegraph operator , which inspired some of his earliest inventions. In 1876, he established his first laboratory facility in Menlo Park, New Jersey , where many of his early inventions were developed. He later established

5544-437: The project, while Edison did all the research. Edison, however, wished to contribute $ 25,000 as well. Edison did the majority of the research and planting, sending results and sample rubber residues to his West Orange Lab. Edison employed a two-part Acid-base extraction , to derive latex from the plant material after it was dried and crushed to a powder. After testing 17,000 plant samples, he eventually found an adequate source in

5632-436: The recordings were produced by Edison Bell's recording studios. Notable among these was a 1925 version of Elgar 's The Dream of Gerontius conducted by Batten, embodying about three-quarters of the score. This label was discontinued in 1927. In 1924 Edison Bell made an early attempt at audio-visual entertainment when they introduced the "Picturegram" gramophone. This machine was designed to play small kiddie records while

5720-538: The right to any improvements made by Edison, Alexander Graham Bell , Chichester Bell, or Tainter. In late 1892, the company complained that machines of American manufacture were appearing in their proprietary area, but the North American Phonograph Company refused to cease exporting. Edison Bell did not sell phonographs and records, but merely leased them. Edison Bell attempted to keep the disc record out of England, preemptively declaring

5808-428: The sales of electric power systems in general. The primary reason was that Edison Electric based their design on low voltage DC, and switching a standard after they had installed over 100 systems was, in Edison's mind, out of the question. By the end of 1887, Edison Electric was losing market share to Westinghouse, who had built 68 AC-based power stations to Edison's 121 DC-based stations. To make matters worse for Edison,

5896-452: The seemingly greedy and callous lighting companies that used it. Edison took advantage of the public perception of AC as dangerous, and joined with self-styled New York anti-AC crusader Harold P. Brown in a propaganda campaign, aiding Brown in the public electrocution of animals with AC, and supported legislation to control and severely limit AC installations and voltages (to the point of making it an ineffective power delivery system) in what

5984-457: The seriousness of his claim, stating the lab contained "eight thousand kinds of chemicals, every kind of screw made, every size of needle, every kind of cord or wire, hair of humans, horses, hogs, cows, rabbits, goats, minx, camels ... silk in every texture, cocoons, various kinds of hoofs, shark's teeth, deer horns, tortoise shell ... cork, resin, varnish and oil, ostrich feathers, a peacock's tail, jet, amber, rubber, all ores ..." and

6072-434: The signal so generated to the telephone line. Edison was one of many inventors working on the problem of creating a usable microphone for telephony by having it modulate an electric current passed through it. His work was concurrent with Emile Berliner 's loose-contact carbon transmitter (who lost a later patent case against Edison over the carbon transmitter's invention ) and David Edward Hughes ’ study and published paper on

6160-417: The varying resistance results in a modulation of the current, creating a varying electric current that reproduces the varying pressure of the sound wave. Up to that point, microphones, such as the ones developed by Johann Philipp Reis and Alexander Graham Bell , worked by generating a weak current. The carbon microphone works by modulating a direct current and, subsequently, using a transformer to transfer

6248-627: Was a fellow telegrapher and inventor named Franklin Leonard Pope , who allowed the impoverished youth to live and work in the basement of his Elizabeth, New Jersey , home, while Edison worked for Samuel Laws at the Gold Indicator Company. Pope and Edison founded their own company in October 1869, working as electrical engineers and inventors. Edison began developing a multiplex telegraphic system, which could send two messages simultaneously, in 1874. Edison's major innovation

6336-419: Was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation , mass communication , sound recording , and motion pictures. These inventions, which include the phonograph , the motion picture camera , and early versions of the electric light bulb , have had a widespread impact on the modern industrialized world . He was one of the first inventors to apply

6424-681: Was at Stratford Junction, Ontario, on the Grand Trunk Railway . He also studied qualitative analysis and conducted chemical experiments until he left the job rather than be fired after being held responsible for a near collision of two trains. Edison obtained the exclusive right to sell newspapers on the road, and, with the aid of four assistants, he set in type and printed the Grand Trunk Herald , which he sold with his other papers. This began Edison's long streak of entrepreneurial ventures, as he discovered his talents as

6512-856: Was born in 1847 in Milan, Ohio , but grew up in Port Huron, Michigan , after the family moved there in 1854. He was the seventh and last child of Samuel Ogden Edison Jr. (1804–1896, born in Marshalltown, Nova Scotia ) and Nancy Matthews Elliott (1810–1871, born in Chenango County, New York ). His patrilineal family line was Dutch by way of New Jersey ; the surname had originally been "Edeson". His great-grandfather, loyalist John Edeson, fled New Jersey for Nova Scotia in 1784. The family moved to Middlesex County, Upper Canada , around 1811, and his grandfather, Capt. Samuel Edison Sr. served with

6600-521: Was determined to find a native supply of rubber. Edison's work on rubber took place largely at his research laboratory in Fort Myers, which has been designated as a National Historic Chemical Landmark. The laboratory was built after Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Harvey S. Firestone pulled together $ 75,000 to form the Edison Botanical Research Corporation. Initially, only Ford and Firestone were to contribute funds to

6688-467: Was exposed to a poisonous dose of radiation; he later died (at the age of 39) of injuries related to the exposure, including mediastinal cancer. In 1903, a shaken Edison said: "Don't talk to me about X-rays, I am afraid of them." Nonetheless, his work was important in the development of a technology still used today. Edison invented a highly sensitive device, that he named the tasimeter , which measured infrared radiation . His impetus for its creation

6776-511: Was generally told to carry out his directions in conducting research, and he drove them hard to produce results. William Joseph Hammer , a consulting electrical engineer , started working for Edison and began his duties as a laboratory assistant in December 1879. He assisted in experiments on the telephone, phonograph, electric railway, iron ore separator , electric lighting , and other developing inventions. However, Hammer worked primarily on

6864-620: Was introduced April 1928. These featured abbreviated recordings from Banner Records . This series ended April 1932. In early 1933, Edison Bell was acquired by the Decca company, at which time all recording at Edison Bell ceased. Decca continued issuing various Edison Bell labels until 1935. The City of London Phonograph and Gramophone Society ( CLPGS ) publishes a history and full listing of Edison Bell disc records in their Reference Series of books. Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931)

6952-634: Was later called Seminole Lodge as a winter retreat. The main house and guest house are representative of Italianate architecture and Queen Anne style architecture . The building materials were pre-cut in New England by the Kennebec Framing Company and the Stephen Nye Lumber Company of Fairfield Maine. The materials were then shipped down by boat and were constructed at a cost of $ 12,000 each, which included

7040-424: Was not until several months after the patent was granted that Edison and his team discovered that a carbonized bamboo filament could last over 1,200 hours. Attempts to prevent blackening of the bulb due to emission of charged carbon from the hot filament culminated in Edison effect bulbs, which redirected and controlled the mysterious unidirectional current. Edison's 1883 patent for voltage-regulating

7128-563: Was now being referred to as a " war of the currents ". The development of the electric chair was used in an attempt to portray AC as having a greater lethal potential than DC and smear Westinghouse, via Edison colluding with Brown and Westinghouse's chief AC rival, the Thomson-Houston Electric Company, to ensure the first electric chair was powered by a Westinghouse AC generator. Edison was becoming marginalized in his own company having lost majority control in

7216-490: Was popular was the "Handephon", a portable gramophone. In the early 1920s Edison Bell sought to develop a substantial catalog of "serious" music, and selected conductor Joe Batten (1885-1955) to lead the effort. Edison Bell introduced the Edison Bell Velvet Face record label in 1922, which featured uncommon works of classical music. A few of the recordings originated from Gennett Records , but most of

7304-495: Was recruited by Edward H. Johnson and joined the Edison organization in 1883. One of Sprague's contributions to the Edison Laboratory at Menlo Park was to expand Edison's mathematical methods. Despite the common belief that Edison did not use mathematics, analysis of his notebooks reveal that he was an astute user of mathematical analysis conducted by his assistants such as Francis Robbins Upton, for example, determining

7392-527: Was switched on, providing 110 volts direct current (DC), initially to 59 customers in lower Manhattan , quickly growing to 508 customers with 10,164 lamps. The power station was decommissioned in 1895. Eight months earlier in January 1882, to demonstrate feasibility, Edison had switched on the 93 kW first steam-generating power station at Holborn Viaduct in London. This was a smaller 110 V DC supply system, eventually supplying 3,000 street lights and

7480-412: Was the desire to measure the heat from the solar corona during the total Solar eclipse of July 29, 1878 . The device was not patented since Edison could find no practical mass-market application for it. Vertical cut recording The vertical cut recording process is an early method of audio recording by which a stylus cuts a vertical groove into a phonograph record . This is in contrast to

7568-488: Was the establishment of an industrial research lab in 1876. It was built in Menlo Park , a part of Raritan Township (now named Edison Township in his honor) in Middlesex County, New Jersey , with the funds from the sale of Edison's quadruplex telegraph . After his demonstration of the telegraph, Edison was not sure that his original plan to sell it for $ 4,000 to $ 5,000 was right, so he asked Western Union to make

7656-527: Was used in all telephones along with the Bell receiver until the 1980s. In 1878, Edison began working on a system of electrical illumination, something he hoped could compete with gas and oil-based lighting. He began by tackling the problem of creating a long-lasting incandescent lamp, something that would be needed for indoor use. However, Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb. In 1840, British scientist Warren de la Rue developed an efficient light bulb using

7744-460: Was valid. To avoid a possible court battle with yet another competitor, Joseph Swan , who held an 1880 British patent on a similar incandescent electric lamp, he and Swan formed a joint company called Ediswan to manufacture and market the invention in Britain. The incandescent light bulb patented by Edison also began to gain widespread popularity in Europe as well. Mahen Theatre in Brno (in what

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