Childhood
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Education
Thomas A. Edison was not a very focused child in school so his mother home-schooled him. His mother Nancy Edison taught him the following rules to live by:
- To not be afraid to fail and to learn from your mistakes.
- Read across the entire span of literature, not just what you like.
- It's ok to work with your hands, not all things come from books.
- Never stop learning, improve yourself.
Career
Thomas Edison had 5 jobs in his life time.
- Grand Trunk Railroad in Port Huron/Detroit, Michigan selling newspapers, (1859-1863)
- Stratford Junction in Ontario, Canada as a telegrapher (1863-1868)
- Western Union in Boston, Massachusetts as a telegraph operator (1868-1869)
- Full-time inventor in Newark, NJ (1869-1876)
- Running his own laboratory in Menlo Park, NJ (1876-1886)
- Opened a new laboratory he called his "Invention Factory" in West Orange, NJ (1886-death)
Accomplishments
Thomas A. Edison accomplished these things during his lifetime.
- He had 1,093 patents.
- Edison was the first inventor to make the incandescent light bulb as we know of today.
- He was a leader in creating today's electric world.
- Thomas Edison founded Edison Illuminating Company, which is now General Electric.
- He was thought of as one of America's best businessmen.
- He invented the concrete house design, the motion picture camera, alkaline storage battery and the phonograph.
Death
Thomas A. Edison died because of diabetes on October 18, 1931 in West-orange, New Jersey. He died with all of the lights on in his house to show that he was afraid of the dark and to show how he stood for never giving up.