He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and the long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. He was born February 11, 1847, Milan, Ohio. He died on October 18, 1931, West Orange, NJ. His mother Nancy Edison was a school teacher and his father Samuel Edison an exiled political activist. As a young child, Thomas got scarlet fever, as well as ear infections. It left him with hearing difficulties in both ears. He lost his hearing due to a train incident where his ears were injured. In 1854, the family moved to Port Huron, Michigan, where Edison attended public school for 12 weeks. His teacher thought he was a “difficult” child. At age 11, he showed a rapacious appetite for knowledge. He read books on a wide range of subjects. Because of this, he learned for self-education and independent learning. At the age of twelve, he wrote a newspaper called the Grand Trunk Herald and sold it along the Grand Trunk Railroad line. He used his access to the railroad to conduct chemical experiments in a train baggage car. It created a fire and the conductor struck Thomas on the side of the head. This may have furthered his hearing loss. He was kicked off the stations. He saved a 3-year-old from being run over by an errant train, the child’s father was grateful. He rewarded him by teaching him to operate a telegraph. So by age 15 he was able to work
He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and the long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. He was born February 11, 1847, Milan, Ohio. He died on October 18, 1931, West Orange, NJ. His mother Nancy Edison was a school teacher and his father Samuel Edison an exiled political activist. As a young child, Thomas got scarlet fever, as well as ear infections. It left him with hearing difficulties in both ears. He lost his hearing due to a train incident where his ears were injured. In 1854, the family moved to Port Huron, Michigan, where Edison attended public school for 12 weeks. His teacher thought he was a “difficult” child. At age 11, he showed a rapacious appetite for knowledge. He read books on a wide range of subjects. Because of this, he learned for self-education and independent learning. At the age of twelve, he wrote a newspaper called the Grand Trunk Herald and sold it along the Grand Trunk Railroad line. He used his access to the railroad to conduct chemical experiments in a train baggage car. It created a fire and the conductor struck Thomas on the side of the head. This may have furthered his hearing loss. He was kicked off the stations. He saved a 3-year-old from being run over by an errant train, the child’s father was grateful. He rewarded him by teaching him to operate a telegraph. So by age 15 he was able to work