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Date of Birth
On February 11, 1847, Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio. He was born to parents of Nancy and Samuel being the youngest of seven. At a young age, his family moved to Port Huron in Michigan. When he was first put into public school, he was distracted and could not focus like the other students and later, was put into homeschooling. This event is significant because his teachers never thought he would succeed in life and he, later, would prove them wrong. Source: (galegroup.com) -
Telegraphy in His Blood
At age 15, Thomas showed a liking for business. When walking alongside a railroad, he saved a child from being hit by an oncoming train. This son was the trainmasters son. With nothing to pay Thomas with to thank him from helping his son, the trainmaster taught Thomas telegraphy. Thomas later became one of the fastest operators in the area. This one event is important because this helped kick start Edison's career and lead to improving the telegraph. Source: (galegroup.com) (Asimov 76) -
Edison in Boston
In 1867, Edison moved to Boston to expand on his careers. Here, he worked for the Western Union Telegraph Company. In his free time or days off of work, he would be in libraries studying and inventing various things. This lead to him inventing a voice recorder for legislators. Even though it was a brilliant invention, no one in Boston wanted it. This lead to him to move to New York City and move to new careers. Source: (biography.com) (galegroup.com) -
Times Change
Tom moved from Boston to New York City to expand his career. When waiting for an interview, a machine broke down and no one knew how to fix it. He asked to investigate it and he knew exactly what was wrong, fixing it in no time. Showing their gratitude, the company hired Tom and gave him a $300 salary per month. Excepting this, Tom was able to gain enough money to retire from telegraphing and moved to full time inventing, setting a large future for him. Source:(Asimov 75) -
Growth Begins
In Menlo Park, New Jersey, Edison's company began to sprout it's roots, deciding to make a lab. Here, he was hoping to expand his company and make new inventions about every 10 days. Over the course of 10 years, thought, he was able to invent various thungs. This is important because this is the place where he created his most famous inventions. Source: (galegroup.com) (Asimov 78) -
Victory for Japan
In the Battle of Shiroyama, the samurais were fighting the Imperial Japanese Army because of the Satsuma Rebellion. The Imperial Japanese Army defeated the samurais in this battle. They used elaborate planning and natural structures to bring their army to victory. By the end of the day, there was almost no samurais left behind. Source: (thoughtco.com) -
Menlo Park booming with Edison
When moving to Menlo Park, Thomas was able to expand. This caused many inventions to start forming, one of the most popular ones being the phonograph. The phonograph, also known as the record player, was a device able to use a stylus and, almost like etching, it read the markings, causing sound to be made. This one invention sparked a liking for a "portable" music player and now did not have to hire someone to play for you. Source: (Hyl 164) (Bix 76) (galegroup.com) -
An Object Can Change the World
Other than being known for the phonograph, Edison invented the incandescent light bulb. Even thought he didn't create the first light bulb, he modified it to glow much longer than to others did. Joseph Swan's light bulb would only emit light for a few minutes, Edison's emitted for 40 hours. This change created a large change in sales for Edison, eventually pooling people just to see the light glow for that long. Source: (galegroup.com) (biography.com) (Bix 80) -
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Edison's Bulb Changes Cities
For a while, cities were dark and gloomy but, this soon changed. In 1882, Edison's bulb was booming with sales. Because of this, people started to build to power stations to help to lights glisten at night. The first one was in London and created in January. The second one was in Appleton, Wisconsin. Lastly, the third one was built on Pearl St. All these lead to lights lining the streets and the shop to be brighter than before. Source: (Hyl 165) -
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Thomas Stevens
Thomas Stevens was the first man to bike around the whole world. In April 1884, he started in San Francisco. He eventually ended in December 1886 in San Francisco. He went from America, to Europe to Asia and completed the travel in 2 years. He later searched in Africa and became the manager of Garrick Theatre. Source: (onthisday.com) -
Edison Outgrows Melno Park
The business in Menlo park was growing too quick for the building so he had to move. He moved the factory to West Orange, New Jersey. Here, he started getting patents about every 5 days. Over the years, the kinetograph was made (motion picture projector). This was the most popular invention of this time but, after a while Edison got bored with it. This lead to him almost getting a Nobel Prize in 1912. Source: (galegroup.com) -
Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday was almost like the Boston Massacre. It was a large massacre in St. Petersburg, Russia. A group of people followed Father Gapon and marched to the Winter Palace, ending in a massacre.This one event cause the Russian Revolution of 1905 to begin. -
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World War 1
World War 1 was the first of 2 wars. The Germans, Austria-Hungarians, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire ( also known as the Central Powers) fought against The United States, France, Great Britain, Italy, Romania, Japan and Russia ( the Allied Powers). The long 4 years were rough for many. At the endwith the Allied Powers claimed victorious, about 16 million dead and many other wounded. Source: (history.com) -
Earthquake in Italy
In Avezzano, Italy, an earthquake struck in 1915.The earthquake had 6.7 magnitude and destroyed the city. The city was located in the Province of L'Aquila. Now, it has been rebuilt and in like it was before. source: (onthisday.com) -
The Start of Depression
In 1929, the Great Depression came to a beginning. This was when the stock market crashed in 1929 and caused a panic throughout many businesses. Many people became unemployed and could barely buy something to eat. The lowest point was when 15 million people had to live that life style. It ended in 1939. Source: (history.com) -
All Good Must Come To an End
With all different inventions made by Edison and loved by many, all this must come to an end. On October 18, 1931, Thomas Alva Edison died in his home in West Orange, New Jersey from difficulties of his diabetes. We must think back to the inventions he made and how much he helped humans as a whole. With the new light bulb and phonograph, they all helped humans survive must easier than before. Source: (galegroup.com) (biography.com) (Asimov 82 and 90)
