STORY OF THOMAS ALVA EDISON (1960's)

Loading...

Sign in or sign up now!
Alert icon
Upgrade to the latest Flash Player for improved playback performance. Upgrade now or more info.
1,348
Loading...
Alert icon
Sign in or sign up now!
Alert icon

Uploaded by on May 21, 2011

http://www.zazzle.co.uk/gayriot

Invented the phonograph, the incandescent electric lightbulb, the alkaline storage battery among other things. He held more than 900 patents and laid the foundation for the modern electric age.

Trivia

Made several experimental short films, some lasting only several seconds, mostly to test his equipment. One film, which features a man sneezing, runs for one and one-half seconds.

When he lay dying at his home in New Jersey, newspaper reporters were anxiously awaiting a sign from his wife of his death. She signaled Edison's passing by turing a light ON, not off, in his bedroom.

Using a primative cylinder and foil device, he created the first known recording of a human voice (his own, reciting the poem "Mary Had A Little Lamb").

Reportedly drank "wine coca" (a medicinal tonic made from coca leaves, the same type of coca that cocaine is extracted from) during marathon research sessions that ran into the night.

Was home-schooled.

Enjoyed communication with Morse Code so much, that he proposed marriage to his girlfriend in it, and nicknamed his children "Dot" and "Dash".

Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla (credited with the practical development of alternating current) briefly worked for Edison as a technician. He quit after arguing with Edison one too many times.

In his later years, he often committed social faux pas by making racist and anti-Semitic comments before the press.

While his partial deafness was the subject a great deal of speculation and mythology, it is generally assumed that it was caused by a childhood bout of scarlet fever.

Is venerated by a sect of the Shinto faith as "the god of electrcity".

Many of his experimental films were made in a small wooden building dubbed "The Black Maria" (spelled Maria but pronounced "Mariah") because it resembled a police wagon of the same name. Edison's Black Maria was built on a lot next to his lab and office. The building, essentially a large wooden shed covered with tar paper, was small enough that it was mounted on circular tracks so it could be turned to accommodate sunlight through an opening in the roof. The original has long since burned down, but a reproduction of the structure is located at the Edison National Historic Site (a museum with a preserved laboratory facility) in West Orange, New Jersey.

Is credited with the invention of sprocketed cinema film.

Close friend of Henry Ford.

Other inventions to his credit include celophane tape, waxed paper, an improved version of the typewriter keyboard, and "the electric pencil", a forerunner to today's fax machine.

Rarely if ever slept a normal 8 hour period. He preferred to take "cat naps" throughout the day, and kept cots in his office and lab.

While he is often erroneously credited with the invention of the incandescent light bulb, he only perfected it. Similar bulbs were already in existence, but they were expensive, did not last long, and gave off a bad smell. By developing a low-cost, long-lasting, carbonized cotton filament, he made electrical light cheap enough to be financially practical.

The last years of his life were plagued by financial failures, including plans to make houses out of poured formed concrete (it never caught on with the public) and making rubber from goldenrod (it decomposed too quickly).

He played virtually no role in the production of individual films by the movie company that bore his name.

His company was considerably late to become involved in the recorded music business. While he did invent the phonograph, his intention was to market it as a business dictation machine. The concept of recorded music never crossed his mind.

Edison's son allegedly captured his last breath in a glass jar. The jar is on display at the reconstructed Menlo Park at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan.

Despite his company producing one of the earliest advertisements for cigarettes (Admiral Cigarettes), Edison became an ardent anti-smoking advocate; going so far as to say that he would not hire anyone who smoked.

Invented the cylinder recorder (phonograph) but it was Emile Berliner who created the flat disc, Edison licensed the patent(s) from him.

Invented the Kinetograph camera and the peephole kinetoscope viewer. The Edison Manufacturing Company's (really a very early "studio") earliest films were produced solely to demonstrate the use of the peephole viewer.

His father, Samuel Edison, was of Dutch ancestry and his mother, Nancy Elliot, was of English decent.

He was member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS)

Elected to the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2007 for his services to technology (inaugural election). Official induction ceremonies held in May 2008.

His attempts to force independent filmmakers to use his patented movie equipment resulted in an exodus of the film industry out West to a little town called Hollywoodland, now known as Hollywood. (Text from IMDb)

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

License:

Standard YouTube License

  • likes, 1 dislikes

Link to this comment:

Share to:
see all

All Comments (2)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • Thank you for the movie about a fantastic person. Thumbs up.

Loading...

Alert icon
0 / 00Unsaved Playlist Return to active list
    1. Your queue is empty. Add videos to your queue using this button:
      or sign in to load a different list.
    Loading...Loading...Saving...
    • Clear all videos from this list
    • Learn more