Facts about thomas edison for elementary kids

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  • Edison (1847)

    Thomas Edison (1847)

    Thomas Edison was born in 1847 in Milan, Ohio. Young Tom didn't do very well in school, so his mother decided to teach him at home. She gave him lots of books to read. Tom was a curious boy. He always wanted to know how things worked. He liked to see if he could make them work better. His mother let him set up a laboratory in the house where he could experiment with things.

    As a young man, Tom set up a lab of his own, where he could try out his ideas. He invented lots of things in his laboratory. Guess what his favorite invention was? It was the phonograph. Before the phonograph, if you wanted to hear music, you had to play it yourself or go to a concert.

    Edison's most famous invention was the light bulb. At the time, people used gas or oil lamps to light their homes. Edison knew it would be cheaper and easier to use electricity. The trouble was, nobody knew how to do it. Edison worked on his idea a long time . He tried lots of things that didn't work. But he didn't give up. He kept trying until one day it worked! Today, you can flip a switch and have light any time you want it.

    Edison also built the first power plant. Edison's Pearl Street Power Station opened in 1882 in New York City. It sent electricity to 85 customers and made enough power to light 5,000 lamps.

    Edison also invented the movie camera. When you go to the movies or watch TV, you can thank him for his ideas and hard work. Many of the electric machines you see at home or at school came from his ideas.

    Inventing things was what Edison liked best. He thought about how things worked. Then he thought about how he could do it better. That is called inspiration. The hard part came next. Edison had to make his ideas work. He tried all kinds of things unt

    Thomas Edison facts for kids

    Quick facts for kids

    Thomas Alva Edison

    "Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration."
    – Thomas Alva Edison, Harper's Monthly (September 1932)

    Born(1847-02-11)February 11, 1847

    Milan, Ohio, United States

    DiedOctober 18, 1931(1931-10-18) (aged 84)

    West Orange, New Jersey, United States

    Cause of deathDiabetes
    OccupationInventor, scientist, businessman
    Spouse(s)

    Mary Stilwell

    (m. 1871⁠–⁠1884)​

    Mina Edison

    (m. 1886⁠–⁠1931)​
    ChildrenMarion Estelle Edison (1873–1965)
    Thomas Alva Edison Jr. (1876–1935)
    William Leslie Edison (1878–1937)
    Madeleine Edison (1888–1979)
    Charles Edison (1890–1969)
    Theodore Miller Edison (1898–1992)
    Parent(s)Samuel Ogden Edison, Jr. (1804–1896)
    Nancy Matthews Elliott (1810–1871)
    RelativesLewis Miller (father-in-law)

    Thomas Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an Americaninventor and entrepreneur who invented many things. Edison developed one of the first practical light bulbs, but contrary to popular belief, did not invent the light bulb. Edison's received 1093 patents, which was the most granted to any inventor in his time. He started the General Electric Company to make some of the things he invented. He died due to a disease called diabetes.

    Early life

    Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio. When Edison was seven years old, he moved with his family to Port Huron, Michigan, where he started school late because of an illness. Three months later, Edison was removed from school because he could not pay attention to his teacher. His mother, who had been a teacher in Canada, taught Edison at home. Edison's mother helped him become motivated for learning.

    When Edison was twelve years old, he caught scarlet fever. The effects of the fever left Edison completely deaf in his left ear and 80 percent deaf in the other. When he was thirteen, he began a job selling candy, newspapers, and vegetables o

    Take a moment to cover your ears so you can’t hear anything. How does it feel to not be able to hear anything? It would be difficult to know what was going on and to be able to communicate with others, right?

    Tonight, we are going to talk about a very successful businessman and an inventor who on his twelfth birthday developed hearing problems and became completely deaf in one ear. Thomas Edison

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    Birth

    Thomas Alva Edison was born in 1847 in Milan, Ohio. But, in 1854, his family decided to move to Port Huron, Michigan where he was raised. Thomas was the seventh child and the youngest in his family. Edison was home-schooled by his mother. He attended public school but only for a short period. 

    For whatever reason, Thomas struggled in school, so his teachers thought he wasn’t smart enough, so his mother decided to teach him herself. She taught him how to read and write.  Sometimes people who struggle in school don’t have problems, they just don’t do well in a normal school setting. This was the case with Edison and the genius Albert Einstein ran into the same problem.  

    After a while, Thomas developed a love for books. He read a lot of books and taught himself on his own. As a child, he was amazed at the technology and new inventions and started spending long hours working on experiments at home. 

    He loved to tinker and try new things. He would try different ways to solve a problem until he figured it out. This is called “tinkering” and one way that inventors solve problems. 

    When Thomas was 12 he became completely deaf in one ear and developed a hearing problem in the second “ear” too.  But what was at first a handicap, ended up being helpful to Thomas. His hearing problem allowed him to concentrate on his work. 

    Because he is not able to hear things properly, outside noise is not able to distract him from his work, and as a result, he went on to b

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    Thomas Edison Facts

    Let’s learn about Thomas Edison? Read on!

    At the end, review our question sheet in the Activity section to test your knowledge of this very famous inventor.

    Thomas Edison was born February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio. He was the youngest of seven children. Wow that’s a lot of brothers and sisters to have.

    He was one of the United States most well-known inventors. When he was a child he got scarlet fever, and this left him almost deaf.

    Thomas Edison Facts

    • He believed that his deafness helped him concentrate on his work without any external distractions. 
    • Nikola Tesla was once Edison’s colleague, but they went on to become rivals. 
    • One of Thomas Edison’s most notable inventions was the motion picture camera that he created with a colleague named William Kennedy Dickson. 
    • He built three electric cars back in 1912, but the cars were never officially manufactured or sold. 
    • As a child, Edison saved a toddler from getting hit by a train. 
    • Edison suggested answering the phone by saying hello, instead of “are you there?” or “ahoy.”

    Early Life

    He was nicknamed “Al” and although he was a very busy, curious boy, he struggled at school and often got into trouble.

    His teacher called him “addled,” which means slow or dim. Well, little did they know what would happen!

    Edison’s mother, Nancy Mathews Elliott was frustrated with the school and knew her son could learn, so instead she taught him at home after he left school.

    He read books from the library and taught himself but learned to love reading and conducting experiments from his mother.

     He later remembered, “My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me; and I felt I had something to live for, someone I must not disappoint.” Ah, that’s awesome!

    Edison often entertained himself by taking things apart to see how they worked. Soon, he decided to become an inventor.

    When Edison was