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Thomas Edison was Americas greatest inventor, creator of the lightbulb, the phonograph, and all kinds

of other devices.

As a child, Edison was hyperactive, and had a great love of knowledge. At the age of seven he attendedschool for a total of twelve weeks before his teacher deemed him a difficult student, so his mother (aschoolteacher) pulled him from school and taught him herself.

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Younger Years

Born on February 11, 1847, in Milan, Ohio, Thomas Alva Edison was the last of the seven children ofSamuel and Nancy Edison. Thomas's father was an exiled political activist from Canada. His mother, anaccomplished school teacher, was a major influence in Thomas early life. A n early bout with scarletfever left him with hearing difficulties in both ears, a malady that would eventually leave him nearly deafas an adult.

In 1854, the family moved to Port Huron, Michigan, where Edison attended public school for a total of12 we eks. A hyperactive child, prone to distraction, he was deemed difficult by his teacher. His motherquickly pulled him from school and taught him at home. At age 11, he showed a voracious appetite forknowledge, reading books on a wide range of subjects. In this wide-open curriculum Edison developed aprocess for self-education and learning independently that would serve him throughout his life.

Early Career

At age 12, Edison set out to put much of that education to work. He convinced his parents to let him sellnewspapers to passengers along the Grand Trunk Railroad line. Exploiting his access to the newsbulletins teletyped to the station office each day, Thomas began publishing his own small newspaper,called the Grand Trunk Herald. The up-to-date articles were a hit with passengers. This was the first of

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what would become a long string of entrepreneurial ventures where he saw a need and capitalized onopportunity.

Edison also used his access to the railroad to conduct chemical experiments in a small laboratory he setup in a train baggage car. During one of his experiments, a chemical fire started and the car caught fire.The conductor rushed in and struck Thomas on the side of the head, probably furthering some of hishearing loss. He was kicked off the train and forced to sell his newspapers at various stations along theroute.

While he worked for the railroad, a near-tragic event turned fortuitous for the young man. After Edisonsaved a three-year-old from being run over by an errant train, the ch ilds grateful father rewarded himby teaching him to operate a telegraph. By age 15, he had learned enough to be employed as a

telegraph operator. For the next five years, Edison traveled throughout the Midwest as an itineranttelegrapher, subbing for those who had gone to the Civil War. In his spare time, he read widely, studiedand experimented with telegraph technology, and became familiar with electrical science.

In 1866, at age 19, Edison moved to Louisville, Kentucky, working for The Associated Press.