THOMAS ALVA EDISON
Shivali Vora, Grade II (Miss Earp)
Thomas Alva Edison was born on February 11, 1847. He was born in Milan, Ohio, and was raised in Port Huron, Michigan. He was the 7th child of Samuel Ogden Edison Jr. and Nancy Matthews Elliot. He was also the youngest of his brothers and sisters. His father had to escape from Canada because he took part in the unsuccessful Mackenzie Rebellion of 1837. Edison was removed from school because he didn’t pay attention to his teacher, the Reverend Engle. After this, Thomas Edison’s three months of official schooling was ended. So, his mother taught him all the things he needed to know at home. The majority of his education came from reading R.G. Parker’s School of Natural Philosophy and The Cooper Union. Edison got hearing problems when he was about 12 years old. He became completely deaf in his left ear, and about 80% deaf in his right ear. He then learned Morse code of the telegraph, and began a job as a brass pounder or telegraph operator. When Edison was 16 years old, he invented his first invention, the automatic repeater. In 1868, Edison moved to the East and began to work for the Western Union Company in Boston, Massachusetts. He worked 12 hours a day and 6 days a week. In the time of 6 months, he applied for receiving his first patent for an “electric vote-recording machine.” This made the voting process go faster. Then, Edison moved to New York. In New York, he worked for a certain company. He fixed their machines for them. At night, Edison would work on some of his projects which he created. When Edison was 29 years old, he worked on the carbon transmitter, which made the sound of Alexander Graham Bell’s new telephone invention a little louder. In 1871, Edison married Mary Stilwell. They had 3 children. In 1877, Edison invented the phonograph, the very first machine which could record and play sounds. The phonograph made Edison quite famous. In 1879, Edison invented a light bulb which lasted longer than the light bulbs back in the days. In 1884, Mary Stilwell died because of an illness. Edison then bought some land in the state of Florida and built a house. When Edison was 35 years old, he married Mina Miller. Mina Miller was only 19 years old when Edison married her. They also had 3 children. In total, Edison had 6 children. Thomas Alva Edison was a great man who invented many things which changed our everyday lives. A place in New Jersey called Edison was named after Thomas Alva Edison. That’s why we still remember Thomas Alva Edison.