Thomas Edison

1. biographical info

1.1. born-1847

1.2. died-1931

1.3. school- he was home-schooled

1.4. interests- reading and inventing

2. famous inventions/discoveries

2.1. first practical light bulb

2.2. phonograph (sound recorder)

2.3. kinetoscope (moving image projector)

3. records

3.1. when he died, Edison held a world record of 1093 us patents! (recognizable inventions) That's about average 13 inventions every year of his life!

4. history

4.1. first invention at age 16 (1863)- automatic repeater

4.2. 1876 he opened laboratory where he made most of his inventions

4.3. in 1878 he started Edison electric light company

5. quotes

5.1. there is a way to do it better- find it

5.2. there is no substitute for hard work

6. struggles

6.1. His teacher said he was "too stupid to learn anything."

6.2. He was fired from his first two jobs for being "non-productive."

6.3. Edison made 1000 unsuccessful attempts at making the light bulb.

7. why is he still important today

7.1. we use lightbulbs still