The first major success out of Menlo Park was the phonograph, patented in 1877.

The lab grew quickly, and within a decade, it occupied two full city blocks. Edison had a large staff who carried out research and experiments under his direction. The Menlo Park lab was one of the first facilities dedicated entirely to scientific research and development. He sold that to Western Union in 1876, and used the proceeds to create a research laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. There wasn’t much interest in the device, but he had better luck a few years later when he devised a telegraph that could send multiple messages simultaneously on a single wire. As a result of scarlet fever and several untreated inner ear infections, he lost his hearing completely in one ear, and almost completely in the other.Įdison received his first patent in 1869, for an electric vote recorder. He attended public schools for only a few months and was mostly taught at home by his mother. One of the most prolific inventors in history, Edison created the phonograph, the electric light bulb, and the motion picture camera.Įdison was born in Ohio and grew up in Michigan. Thomas Edison was born on February 11, 1847.

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