Thomas Edison 

by Dora

Thomas Edison’s full name is Thomas Alva Edison. He was born on February 11^th, 1847 in Ohio.

   When he was growing up, he became deaf in both ears. Thomas says it happened when he couldn’t aboard the train for his job at the Grand Truck Railroad. One of the conductors picked him up by the ears and boarded him on the train. He says when he was picked up he heard something snap inside of him. Or some people think he got deaf by Scarlet fever. At age 11 he set up his own laboratory so he could invent. He created this in his basement.

   His wives were Mary Stitwell from 1871-1884, and then Mary died. His second wife was Mina Miller from 1886-1931. His children were Theodore Miller, Charles, Madeleine, William Leslie, Thomas Alva Edison Jr., and Marion Estelle Edison. He names one of his children after him, so he could be just like him. But growing up he didn’t want a laboratory or do any of the things Thomas did, so Thomas asked him to change his name. So he did and changed his name from Thomas Edison Jr. to Thomas Willard.

The only school education Thomas had been for only 3 months. The schoolmaster thought Thomas was a stupid boy, but his mother didn’t think so. So, his mom pulled him out of school and homeschooled him, because she was a teacher. His mother thought that he did have a lot of knowledge in him, he just didn’t show it at school. His mom gave him big books that no one or not a lot of kids his age read. They were more adult matured books explaining a lot of things. Some of the books that his mother had him study were Gibbons Rise and the fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbons, Sear’s history of the World and the World Dictionary of Science. All of these books were very long and he finished these books while he was 12. I think it was a good think that his mom homeschooled him because, his mom gave him the books that were within his knowledge. I think that without his mom homeschooling him, he wouldn’t been able to make some inventions. He loved to invent from such a small age, before he was a teen. With the books his mother gave him about Science, he learned more, and invented more.

     Some of his inventions were the telegraph. A telegraph was a machine where you could send messages from a distance. Electricity, he used the electricity to make other kinds of inventions. He made the telegraph with electricity. Thomas Edison in fact did not make the light bulb, he made the incandescent inside the light bulb. The incandescent is the little squiggle in the bulb. He made it so it could be used in homes, offices, and other buildings. Another invention he made was the alkaline batteries. Alkaline batteries are batteries that depend on the reaction of zinc and manganese dioxide. One of his most famous quotes is, “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.”

      Perspiration means sweating. I think this quote is very true because, I think he is saying that your work is from the inspiration, but you if you want it to be good, you have to work very hard. I think he made this quote to how hard he was working because as he got older, he worked harder. Soon enough, he only slept 4 hours and then worked 72 hours.

    I think it was good think Thomas Edison was born. I think it is, because of what a genius he was, and the inventions he has made. He made the telegraph, the electrical power, the incandescent in the light bulb and many more inventions.