The Archives of Andrew Hawkins: The Biography of Thomas Alva Edison (written in 2015)

Thomas Alva Edison:

Who was Thomas Alva Edison? Would anyone like to take a guess? (No) okay. Thomas Alva Edison was the creator of the Incandescent light bulb.  He may be the greatest inventor that ever lived.

He was born in a famous, awesome town of Milan, Ohio, on February 11, 1847. Out of the seven Kids the parents had, Thomas was the youngest of them. The father was a political activist from Canada.  Thomas Edison's mother was an accomplished school teacher. He moved to Port Huron, Michigan, in 1854. Thomas Edison attended a public school for a total of 12 weeks. He was a hyperactive child who was distracted.  The public school teacher called him difficult to handle.

The mother was very active, pulling her youngest out of the public school system and would be teaching Thomas Edison, her son.  At the age of 11, he was shown an appetite not for eating but for knowledge. He loved reading, so he developed a process for self-education. He was learning independently, which would really serve him in his life and in the future.

He had some careers.  One of them, he used his access to the railroad to really conduct chemical experiments in a small laboratory. At the age 12, he conducted an experiment that turned into a huge mess. The mess was a chemical fire. It started on fire on the baggage car on the train, where he conducted his experiments.

The conductor of that train was furious and ran in and struck Thomas on the side of the head. Thomas was not the same on Hearing no longer. The conductor banned Thomas going on the train. Now as we write. He was forced to sell newspapers at various stations along the route. In 1869, he set up his very own private laboratory in a famous town of Newark, New Jersey, and heemployed several famous machinists. He developed partnerships and developed his very own products to the highest bidder.  

              One of the inventions sold for a ground-breaking total of 100,000 dollars in cash, bonds etc…. But one day, he decided to work his tail off to develop one of the groundbreaking technologies that we can’t live without; it is the incandescent light bulb. During that period, people asked him how he did it, and he responded famously, “1% inspiration and 99% perspirations”

              When we listen to this biography, we should think of it as a good reminder to look back in history to learn about the technology. We should not be proud about knowing everything. We can learn about anything. I encourage you to write and discover the passion of writing biographies and anything you feel passionate about because like I said before anyone can write.