A Light Shines Bright By Shana Dunn Thomas Edison A Light Shines Bright By Shana Dunn

Thomas Alva Edison This little boy will grow up to be a famous inventor. He was born on February 11, 1847.

Thomas Edison had patents for over 1,000 inventions. “Of all my inventions, I liked the phonograph the best.” Thomas A. Edison

The Phonograph The phonograph came before a cassette player, a compact disc player, or a MP3 player.

Edison spoke into his new invention by using a large needle. His first words were “Mary had a little lamb.” Listen to this message from Thomas Edison to American soldiers fighting for our country!

The Light Bulb Another Edison invention is the incandescence light bulb.

The incandescence light bulb has a small thread or a filament that becomes so hot it gives off light. This is Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Francis Jehl on October 21, 1929.

“Fred Ott’s Sneeze” Thomas Edison patented the invention of the kinetoscope. A kinetoscope is a motion picture viewer. Click on to see one of Edison’s first moving pictures!

Thomas Edison created between 200 and 300 films. This film is called the “Gordon Sisters Boxing.” Click on the box to begin this film.

Often Edison had inventions that failed. “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Often Edison had inventions that failed. Even though he failed, he kept trying. Here are some inventions that didn’t work!

Failed Inventions Edison loved to use cement but this was not practical for others. He made cabinets, pianos, and houses with cement. This idea was not a total loss, his cement company created the Yankee Stadium! Play ball!

Failed Inventions Thomas Edison tried and tried to create sound for his films. Click on the box to see the results of his experiment! What sounds do you hear?

Failed Inventions His biggest failure was a practical way to mine iron ore. Thomas Edison tried to create a machine that separated iron from ore. Sadly, he did not and he lost all of his money.

Thomas Edison died at the age of 84 on October 18, 1931. During his funeral, thousands of people across the world dimmed their lights or turned them off to show their love for this great inventor!

He and his inventions are lights that still shine bright! Today, Thomas Edison’s inventions have become necessities in the way we live. He and his inventions are lights that still shine bright! Thomas Edison was known as “The Wizard of Menlo Park.”

Resources All photos, videos, and voice recordings can be located from the following sites: America’s Story from America’s Library: http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi The Library of Congress: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html Thomas Edison’s Home Page http://www.thomasedison.com