Thomas Alva Edison Thomas Alva Edison was one of the greatest inventors. He was a smart man. Thomas invented many things such as the light bulb and phonograph. Without the light bulb we would still be using candles and lanterns like they did many years ago. Although Thomas was deaf he worked hard and never gave up. Thomas Alva Edison was born on February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio. He had many family members. He had a father named Samuel Odgen Edison and a mother named Nancy Elliott Edison. Thomas' mother pulled him from school because Thomas' teacher called him a "retard." Nancy Edison taught her son at home. Thomas has six siblings and he was the youngest child in the Edison family. Thomas was interested in many things as a child. At age twelve Thomas got a job at the Grand Trunk Railroad. While working at Grand Trunk Railroad Thomas was a typesetter, press operator, editor, and publisher of his very own newspaper called the "Herald." Thomas got his news for his newspaper from telegraphers at other train stations. Thomas liked many things, but mathematics was not one of them. He enjoyed reading books about science and philosophy. His favorite book ever was Isaac Newtown's Principia Mathematica. Thomas was interested in inventing the light bulb. Thomas was a scientist as a kid. He like to test many things. When he was young he built a laboratory in the family's basement. Thomas did experiments he found in science books and got jars and chemicals for experiments from local shopkeepers. Thomas also used a spare train car for another laboratory. Thomas studied books on mechanics, manufacturing, and chemistry at the public library. He spent a long time studying Newtown's Principles. He also read lots of books such as Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Hume's History of England, Sear's History of the World, Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, and The Dictoinaries of Sciences. Thomas Edison invented the light bulb. In October of 1879 ...
