Thomas Edison, Inventor Extraordinaire
Many famous Americans put their creativity to use discovering new processes and products to save time and money, and most of all, add convenience. But none was as prolific as Thomas Edison, who patented 1,000 of his products. Edison's invention of the light bulb ranks with the advent of the telephone as one of the most important technological advances of the nineteenth century.
In 1877, Edison announced the phonograph, which recorded sound mechanically on a tinfoil cylinder.
In 1879, Edison exhibited incandescent electric light bulbs, making electric lighting his most significant discovery.
In 1882, Edison developed and installed the world's first large central electric-power station in New York City.
In 1888, Edison invented the Kinetoscope, the first machine to produce motion pictures by a rapid succession of individual views.
Although these noteworthy contributions had a profound effect on society, Edison wasn't finished. He invented the alkaline, nickel and iron storage battery, and at the outbreak of World War I, Edison designed, built, and operated plants for the manufacture of benzene, carbolic acid, and aniline derivatives. In 1915, Edison was appointed president of the U.S. Navy Consulting Board, where he made further discoveries and improvements.
