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THOMAS A. EDISON Born in 1847 - Died in 1931

Thomas Alva Edison was called Alva, or Al by his family. He was a very curious child. He was always asking questions. Even his mother, who had once been a schoolteacher could not answer all his questions. He would experiment to try to find the answers. Once he tried to hatch some eggs by sitting on them. Another time he accidently burned down the family's barn.

The teacher told someone she thought there was something wrong with Alva; that he was "addled" * . He told his mother and they took him out of the school. He only went to school for 3 months in his whole life. Afterwards , he was taught at home.

He wanted to experiment. To make money for his experiments, he went to work at age 12 selling newspapers and candy on a train. When he had some spare time on the train, he would do experiments in the baggage car.

When he was 16 he went to work for the telegraph * office sending messages.

He became nearly deaf due to an injury to his ears. He later said he didn't mind being deaf because it helped him to concentrate.

When he was 22 years old he went to New York. He only had $1 in his pocket. He hunted for a job during the day, and at night he slept in the basement of a gold company. He watched everything around him very closely. Some equipment broke down and Edison was able to fix it because he had been watching it work before he went to sleep each night. The owners gave him a job. He improved the machine so much the company paid him $40,000 for his invention. He started the American Telegraph Works in New Jersey.

He built a laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. It was here with his employees he made many of his inventions. He would work night after night, and sometimes he would fall asleep at his workbench. His wife wouldn't see him for days at a time.

He and his team worked to make a light bulb which would burn for a long time without burning out. They tried 1,500 materials and nothing worked well. Finally he tried a new material in the filament * that burned nearly 200 hours.

After he had made the light bulb, he worked to make a power system so people could use the bulb. In 1882 he flipped a switch and 85 houses in New York City had electric lights for the first time.




Thomas Edison was probably the world's greatest inventor. He had a patent on 1,093 inventions. In addition to the electric light, he also invented the phonograph * , a camera to take motion pictures, a cement mixer, the automatic * telegraph, and he improved Alexander Graham Bell's telephone.

This biography by Patsy Stevens, a retired teacher, was written in 2001.

A frequent question: "Who wrote this biography and when was it written?" Look on this Reference Citations Chart.

Work a Jigsaw Puzzle Online Crossword Puzzle Online Word Search Online Word Scramble Color Picture Online Take the Test Online Online Jeopardy Online Biography "Who Am I?"

PRINTABLES Alphabetical Order Thomas Edison Word Search Thomas Edison Crossword Puzzle Thomas Edison - Word Scramble Thomas Edison - Word Match * Thomas Edison Study Sheet Worksheet Color a picture of Thomas Edison Print Thomas Edison Test

RESEARCH LINKS Pioneers of Electricity from Florida State University Edison Antique Electric Museum Edison's Miracle of Light PBS site Thomas Edison Birthplace Museum Thomas Edison.com Edison Invents from the Smithsonian Timeline of Edison's life Edison After Forty from American History Thomas Edison at Time For Kids Edison's Miracle of Light transcript of the film at PBS Edison Lesson Plans from The Learning Page at the Library of Congress Thomas A. Edison Papers Rutgers The Wizard of Menlo Park from Franklin Institute Online A Trip with Edison Norm Brauer Publications Thomas Alva Edison at Buzzle.com Thomas Edison biography with audio version Thomas Alva Edison from Hero History Inventors and Inventions at Kid Info More Inventors from Enchanted Learning Incandescent Light Bulb history of the light bulb Electric Light Bulb Inventions That Revolutionised the World Edison Blog Questions and Answers about Edison National Park Service Thomas Edison versus Nikola Tesla Who is more productive? At biography.com search for Thomas Edison. Scroll the panel for the "Video & Audio Results". Thomas Edison Quotes Famous Quotes by QuoteDepot.Net From Word Central's Student Dictionary by Merriam - Webster (Pronunciation note: the schwa sound is shown by ə) addled, addle Pronunciation: 'ad-əl Function: verb Inflected Form: addled : to make or become confused... telegraph Pronunciation: 'tel-ə-"graf Function: noun : an electric device or system for sending messages by a code over wires ... phonograph Pronunciation: 'fO-nə-"graf Function: noun : an instrument that reproduces sound recorded on a grooved disk ... filament Pronunciation: 'fil-ə-mənt Function: noun : a single thread or a thin flexible threadlike object, process, or part: as a : a wire (as in a light bulb) that is made to glow by the passage of an electric current... automatic Pronunciation: "ot-ə-'mat-ik Function: adjective : having devices or mechanisms (as timers) that permit operation without help from a person, (automatic washer)... Thomas Edison: A Brilliant Inventor By Lisa DeMauro, ed. / Harpercollins Publishing Take a close-up look Thomas Edison, the brilliant scientist who perfected the light bulb and founded the first movie studio. Interviews with experts and lively writing deliver the accurate reporting you expect from TIME for Kids. Historical and contemporary photographs capture the life of this inventor who revolutionized our world. Recommended for ages 7 to 9. Thomas Edison Biography FunBook By Carole Marsh & Sherry Moss(Editor) / Gallopade International Everyone's favorite way to learn about America's most important citizens! Easy-to-read information, facts, trivia, humor and activities are all included in Biography Funbooks! Ages 7-12. paperback. A LIBRARY OF ONLINE BOOKS and BOOK PREVIEWS Thomas Edison for kids: his life and ideas : 21 activities by Laurie Carlson (selected pages) Order here ) A Picture Book of Thomas Edison by Alexandra Wallner (selected pages) Order here Thomas Edison, First Biographies by Lola M. Schaefer (selected pages) Order here Thomas Edison, Trailblazer of the Modern World by Richard Hantula (selected pages) Order here Thomas Edison: the wizard inventor by Haydn Middleton (review, but no page views) Order here Thomas Edison: The Man Who Lit Up the World by Martin Woodside (selected pages) Order here Thomas Edison, Kids Can Read Level 3 by Elizabeth MacLeod, Andrej Krystoforski (selected pages) Order here Thomas Edison (Essential Lives) by Charles E. Pederson (selected pages) Order here Thomas Edison by Rebecca Gomez(selected pages) Order here Thomas Edison: And the Developers of Electromagnetism by Elizabeth R. Cregan (selected pages) Order here Young Thomas Edison by Sterling North (selected pages) Order here Thomas Edison and the Light Bulb (Weekly Reader) by Monica L. Rausch (selected pages) Order here Thomas Edison and the Lightbulb (Graphic Library) by Scott R. Welvaert(selected pages) Order here From Telegraph to Light Bulb with Thomas Edison by Deborah Hedstrom-Page, Deborah Hedstrom, Sergio Martinez (selected pages) Order here Light by Rebecca Olien (selected pages) Order here Thomas Edison by Carole Marsh (selected pages) Order here Thomas A. Edison: An Inspiring Story for Boys written in 1931 by Francis Trevelyan Miller (selected pages) Order here Thomas Edison Invents the Light Bulb (Reader's Theater) by Susan Shafer (selected pages) Order here Using Biographies in the Classroom by Garth Sundem, Shell Education ,See Sample pages Order here Great Scientists and Discoveries by Ron Shaw (selected pages) Order here The Picture History of Great Inventors by Gillian Clements (selected pages) Order here Online book "Inventors" Thomas Edison, page 223 (public domain, full view) Preview these Amazon books using the links below. Thomas Edison, Compass Point Books by Lucia Raatma (selected pages) Thomas Edison by Shannon Zemlicka, Shannon Knudsen (selected pages) Thomas Edison, Photo Illustrated Biographies by Greg Linder (selected pages) Thomas Edison, Inventor, Scientist, and Genius by Lori Mortensen, Jeffrey Thompson (selected pages) Thomas Edison, Inventor of the Age of Electricity by Linda Tagliaferro (selected pages) Thomas Edison, Young Inventor by Sue Guthridge (selected pages) Young Thomas Edison by Michael Dooling (selected pages)

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2012-01-17 Awesome

2012-01-16 love it!!! thankyou so much! this really helped me with my science could u make a page bout VOLTA NEXT!!!

2011-11-02 a lot of fun! Cant believe that its so easy to read about someones life. I feel like i know them better than myself happy chipmunk

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Artists	John James Audubon	Gutzon Borglum	Ansel Adams

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*Word Match Solution

Light bulb courtesyWikipedia