simultaneous messages over one wire. In 1876, Edison moved his laboratory to Menlo Park. Thomas was therefore given the name "The wizard of Menlo Park." Here he created his favorite invention, one considered to be his most original, the "Phonograph". This machine recorded sounds and then replayed them. The first sounds recorded by the phonograph was the song "Mary had a little lamb." The light bulb was not invented by Thomas Edison. Edison did, however, develop solutions to a number of the problems or inconveniences associated with the "incandescent bulb." Thomas invented a parallel system in the wiring so that the circuit wouldnt become broken if one lamp was turned off or broken. He experimented with a number of different filaments to find one that burn the longest. Carbonized cotton thread was eventually used. Edison found that the filament burned longer when not surrounded by oxygen. By encasing it in glass bulb and creating a vacuum pump to extract air from the bulb the filament burnt much longer(Swezy). Thomas Edison continued his experiments with electricity. He successfully set up a system of electric generators enabling everyone to benefit from electricity. This in itself is a bigger feat than actually inventing electricity. Thomas obtained money from businessmen and set up the Edison Electric Light company. Today this is know as General ElectricThomas continued to invent things throughout his life. In 1891, Thomas invented the "Kinetograph" and "Projecting Kinetoscope." This was the first practical motion picture camera. It was an animated peep-show; the viewer looked through an opening and saw moving pictures. Thomas Edison is also responsible for one abstract discovery. The "Edison Effect" is a phenomenon that occurs when a current flows between two electrodes in a light bulb. This discovery formed the basis for the development of the electron tube. Thomas Edison died on October 18, 1931 as an American...
