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অ r2.7.2) (ৰবট পৰিবৰ্তন কৰিছে: or:ଥୋମାସ ଆଲଭା ଏଡ଼ିସନ
ইংৰাজী অংশ সদস্য:অনুবাদ/টমাছ আলভা এডিচনলৈ স্থানান্তৰ কৰা হ'ল
1 নং শাৰী:
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{{Infobox person
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'''টমাচ আলভা''' এডিচন (ফ্ৰেব্ৰুৱাৰী{{lang-en|Thomas Edison}} জন্ম:১১ ফ্ৰেব্ৰুৱাৰী, ১৯৪৭ - অক্টোবৰমৃত্যু: ১৮ অক্টোবৰ, ১৯৩১) আমেৰিকা যুক্তৰাষ্ট্ৰৰ এগৰাকী উদ্ভাদক আৰু ব্যৱসায়ী আছিল।
 
==প্ৰাৰম্ভিক জীৱন==
[[File:Young Thomas Edison.jpg|right|150px|শিশু এডিচন]]
45 নং শাৰী:
 
১৮৮৪ চনৰ ৯ আগষ্টৰ দিনা সম্ভৱতঃ মগজুৰ টিউমাৰ হৈ<ref>[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/edhtml/edbio.html The Life of Thomas Edison]. [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html American Memory from the Library of Congress]. Retrieved March 3, 2009.</ref> অথবা অত্যধিক পৰিমাণে গ্ৰহণ কৰা মৰফিনৰ (morphine overdose) বাবে মেৰী এডিচনৰ মৃত্যু হয়। বিভিন্ন ৰোগৰ ঔষধৰূপে চিকিত্সকে প্ৰায়ে এই মহিলাগৰাকীক মৰফিন খাবলৈ দিছিল। <ref>[http://news.rutgers.edu/medrel/research/rh-2011/thomas-edison2019s-f-20111115 ''Rutgers Today'']. Retrieved November 18, 2011</ref>
 
<!--
On February 24, 1886, at the age of thirty nine, Edison married 20-year-old Mina Miller in [[Akron, Ohio]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Thomas_Edison%27s_Children |title=Thomas Edison's Children |date={{Start date|2010|12|16}} |work=IEEE Global History Network |publisher=IEEE |accessdate={{Start date|2011|6|30}}}}</ref> She was the daughter of inventor [[Lewis Miller (philanthropist)|Lewis Miller]], co-founder of the [[Chautauqua Institution]] and a benefactor of [[Methodist]] charities. They also had three children:
* Madeleine Edison (1888–1979), who married John Eyre Sloane.<ref>{{cite news |coauthors=
|title=Madeleine Edison a Bride. Inventor's Daughter Married to J. E. Sloan by Mgr. Brann
|url= |quote= |work=New York Times |date=June 18, 1914, Thursday}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |coauthors= |title=Mrs. John Eyre Sloane Has a Son at the Harbor Sanitarium Here |url= |quote= |work=New York Times |date=January 10, 1931, Saturday}}</ref>
* [[Charles Edison]] (1890–1969), who took over the company upon his father's death and who later was elected [[Governor of New Jersey]].<ref>
{{cite news
|coauthors=
|title=Charles Edison, 78, Ex-Governor Of Jersey and U.S. Aide, Is Dead
|url=
|quote=
|date=August 1969
|work=New York Times}}</ref> He also took charge of his father's experimental laboratories in [[West Orange, New Jersey|West Orange]].
* [[Theodore Edison]] (1898–1992), (MIT Physics 1923), had over 80 patents to his credit.
 
Mina outlived Thomas Edison, dying on August 24, 1947.<ref>{{cite news |coauthors= |title=Edison's Widow Very III
|url= |quote= |work=New York Times |date=August 21, 1947, Thursday}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |coauthors= |title=Rites for Mrs. Edison |url= |quote= |work=New York Times |date=August 26, 1947, Tuesday}}</ref>
 
== Beginning his career ==
[[File:Edison and phonograph edit1.jpg|thumb|upright|Photograph of Edison with his phonograph (2nd model), taken in Mathew Brady's Washington, DC studio in April 1878.]]
{{listen|pos=left|filename=Thomas Edison Mary had lamb.ogg|title=Mary Had a Little Lamb|description=Thomas Edison reciting "Mary Had a Little Lamb"}}
Thomas Edison began his career as an inventor in [[Newark, New Jersey]], with the automatic repeater and his other improved telegraphic devices, but the invention that first gained him notice was the [[phonograph]] in 1877. This accomplishment was so unexpected by the public at large as to appear almost magical. Edison became known as "The Wizard of Menlo Park," New Jersey.
 
His first phonograph recorded on [[Tin#Applications|tinfoil]] around a grooved cylinder, but had poor [[sound quality]] and the recordings could be played only a few times. In the 1880s, a redesigned model using wax-coated cardboard cylinders was produced by [[Alexander Graham Bell]], [[Chichester Bell]], and [[Charles Sumner Tainter|Charles Tainter]]. This was one reason that Thomas Edison continued work on his own "Perfected Phonograph."
 
== Menlo Park (1876–1881) ==
[[File:Menlo Park Laboratory.JPG|thumb|250px|Edison's Menlo Park Laboratory, removed to Greenfield Village at [[Henry Ford Museum]] in Dearborn, Michigan. (Note the organ against the back wall)]]
Edison's major innovation was the first industrial research lab, which was built in [[Menlo Park, New Jersey]]. It was built with the funds from the sale of Edison's [[quadruplex telegraph]]. After his demonstration of the telegraph, Edison was not sure that his original plan to sell it for $4,000 to $5,000 was right, so he asked Western Union to make a bid. He was surprised to hear them offer $10,000,{{Citation needed|date=September 2008}} ($202,000 USD 2010) which he gratefully accepted.
 
The quadruplex telegraph was Edison's first big financial success, and Menlo Park became the first institution set up with the specific purpose of producing constant technological innovation and improvement. Edison was legally attributed with most of the inventions produced there, though many employees carried out research and development under his direction. His staff was generally told to carry out his directions in conducting research, and he drove them hard to produce results.
 
[[William Joseph Hammer]], a consulting electrical engineer, began his duties as a laboratory assistant to Edison in December
1879. He assisted in experiments on the telephone, phonograph, electric railway, [[Edison Ore-Milling Company|iron ore separator]], [[incandescent light bulb|electric lighting]], and other developing inventions. However, Hammer worked primarily on the incandescent electric lamp and was put in charge of tests and records on that device. In 1880, he was appointed chief engineer of the Edison Lamp Works. In his first year, the plant under General Manager [[Francis Robbins Upton]] turned out 50,000 lamps. According to Edison, Hammer was "a pioneer of incandescent electric lighting".
 
[[File:Edison bulb.jpg|thumb||Thomas Edison's first successful light bulb model, used in public demonstration at Menlo Park, December 1879]]
Nearly all of Edison's patents were utility patents, which were protected for a 17-year period and included inventions or processes that are electrical, mechanical, or chemical in nature. About a dozen were [[design patent]]s, which protect an ornamental design for up to a 14-year period. As in most patents, the inventions he described were improvements over [[prior art]]. The phonograph patent, in contrast, was unprecedented as describing the first device to record and reproduce sounds.<ref>Evans, Harold, "They Made America." Little, Brown and Company, New York, 2004. ISBN 978-0-316-27766-2. p. 152.</ref>
 
Edison did not invent the first electric light bulb, but instead invented the first commercially practical incandescent light.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}} Many earlier inventors had previously devised incandescent lamps, including [[Henry Woodward (inventor)|Henry Woodward]] and [[Mathew Evans]]. Others who developed early and commercially impractical incandescent electric lamps included [[Humphry Davy]], [[James Bowman Lindsay]], [[Moses G. Farmer]],<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.eliotmaine.org/mosespage.htm| title=Moses G. Farmer, Eliot's Inventor| accessdate=March 11, 2006 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20060619234400/http://eliotmaine.org/mosespage.htm |archivedate = June 19, 2006}}</ref> [[William E. Sawyer]], [[Joseph Swan]] and [[Heinrich Göbel]]. Some of these early bulbs had such flaws as an extremely short life, high expense to produce, and high [[electric current]] drawn, making them difficult to apply on a large scale commercially.<ref name="Israel1">Israel, Paul B. 1998. Edison: A life of invention. New York: John Wiley.
217–218</ref>
 
In 1878, Edison applied the term ''[[Electrical filament|filament]]'' to the [[electrical element|element]] of glowing wire carrying the current, although the English inventor [[Joseph Swan]] had used the term prior to this. Swan developed an incandescent light with a long lasting filament at about the same time as Edison, as Swan's earlier bulbs lacked the high resistance needed to be an effective part of an electrical utility. Edison and his co-workers set about the task of creating longer-lasting bulbs. In Britain, Joseph Swan had been able to obtain a patent on the incandescent lamp; though Edison had already been making successful lamps for some time, his patent application was incompletely prepared and failed.<ref name="Israel1"/>
 
Unable to raise the required capital in Britain because of this, Edison was forced to enter into a joint venture with Swan (known as [[Ediswan]]). Swan acknowledged that Edison had anticipated him, saying "Edison is entitled to more than I ... he has seen further into this subject, vastly than I, and foreseen and provided for details that I did not comprehend until I saw his system".<ref name="Israel2">Israel, Paul B. 1998. Edison: A life of invention. New York: John Wiley. quoted page 217</ref>
 
By 1879, Edison had produced a new concept: a high resistance lamp in a very high vacuum, which would burn for hundreds of hours. While the earlier inventors had produced electric lighting in laboratory conditions, dating back to a demonstration of a glowing wire by [[Alessandro Volta]] in 1800, Edison concentrated on commercial application, and was able to sell the concept to homes and businesses by mass-producing relatively long-lasting light bulbs and creating a complete system for the generation and distribution of electricity.
 
In just over a decade Edison's Menlo Park laboratory had expanded to occupy two city blocks. Edison said he wanted the lab to have "a stock of almost every conceivable material". A newspaper article printed in 1887 reveals the seriousness of his claim, stating the lab contained "eight thousand kinds of chemicals, every kind of screw made, every size of needle, every kind of cord or wire, hair of humans, horses, hogs, cows, rabbits, goats, minx, camels&nbsp;... silk in every texture, cocoons, various kinds of hoofs, shark's teeth, deer horns, tortoise shell&nbsp;... cork, resin, varnish and oil, ostrich feathers, a peacock's tail, jet, amber, rubber, all ores&nbsp;..." and the list goes on.<ref>{{cite book | last = Shulman | first = Seth | title = Owning the Future | publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company | year = 1999 | pages = 158–160}}</ref>
 
Over his desk, Edison displayed a placard with [[Sir Joshua Reynolds]]' famous quotation: "There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the real labor of thinking."<ref>"[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,752631,00.html Real Labor]", Time, Dec. 8, 1930. (retrieved Jan 10, 2008)</ref> This slogan was reputedly posted at several other locations throughout the facility.
 
With Menlo Park, Edison had created the first industrial laboratory concerned with creating knowledge and then controlling its application.
 
=== Carbon telephone transmitter ===
In 1877–78, Edison invented and developed the [[carbon microphone]] used in all telephones along with the Bell receiver until the 1980s. After protracted patent litigation, in 1892 a federal court ruled that Edison and not [[Emile Berliner]] was the inventor of the carbon microphone. The carbon microphone was also used in radio broadcasting and public address work through the 1920s.
 
=== Electric light ===
{{Main|History of the light bulb}}
[[File:Thomas Edison, 1878.jpg|thumb|200px|Edison in 1878]]
 
Building on the contributions of other developers over the previous three quarters of a century, Edison made improvements to the idea of [[incandescent light]], and entered the public consciousness as "the inventor" of the [[incandescent light bulb|lightbulb]], and a prime mover in developing the necessary infrastructure for electric power.
 
After many experiments with [[platinum]] and other metal filaments, Edison returned to a [[carbon]] filament. The first successful test was on October 22, 1879;<ref name=Israel /> it lasted 13.5 hours.<ref>{{cite web|title=Thomas Edison, Original Letters and Primary Source Documents|url=http://www.shapell.org/btl.aspx?2718806|publisher=Shapell Manuscript Foundation}}</ref> Edison continued to improve this design and by November 4, 1879, filed for U.S. patent 223,898 (granted on January 27, 1880) for an electric lamp using "a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected to platina contact wires".<ref name="Patent898">{{US patent|0223898}}</ref>
 
Although the patent described several ways of creating the carbon filament including "cotton and linen thread, wood splints, papers coiled in various ways",<ref name="Patent898" /> it was not until several months after the patent was granted that Edison and his team discovered a [[carbonization|carbonized]] [[bamboo]] filament that could last over 1,200&nbsp;hours. The idea of using this particular raw material originated from Edison's recalling his examination of a few threads from a bamboo fishing pole while relaxing on the shore of Battle Lake in the present-day state of [[Wyoming]], where he and other members of a scientific team had traveled so that they could clearly observe a total eclipse of the sun on July 29, 1878, from the [[Continental Divide]].<ref>{{cite book
| last = Flannery
| first = L. G. (Pat)
| title = John Hunton's Diary, Volume 3
| year = 1960
| pages = 68, 69
| url =
| isbn = }}
</ref>
 
[[File:Light bulb Edison 2.jpg|thumb|220px|U.S. Patent#223898: Electric-Lamp. Issued January 27, 1880.]]
In 1878, Edison formed the [[Edison Electric Light Company]] in New York City with several financiers, including [[J. P. Morgan]] and the members of the [[Vanderbilt family]]. Edison made the first public demonstration of his incandescent light bulb on December 31, 1879, in Menlo Park. It was during this time that he said: "We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sloan-c.org/conference/proceedings/1996/doc/96_gomory.doc|title=Keynote Address – Second International ALN1 Conference (PDF)|archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5umTbqS3d |archivedate = December 6, 2010|deadurl=no}}</ref>
 
[[Lewis Latimer]] joined the Edison Electric Light Company in 1884. Latimer had received a patent in January 1881 for the "Process of Manufacturing Carbons", an improved method for the production of carbon filaments for lightbulbs. Latimer worked as an engineer, a draftsman and an expert witness in patent litigation on electric lights.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/edis/forkids/the-gifted-men-who-worked-for-edison.htm |title=Lewis Howard Latimer |accessdate=June 10, 2007 |publisher=[[National Park Service]] }}</ref>
 
[[George Westinghouse|George Westinghouse's]] company bought [[Philip Diehl (inventor)|Philip Diehl's]] competing [[Electrodeless lamp|induction lamp]] patent rights (1882) for $25,000, forcing the holders of the Edison patent to charge a more reasonable rate for the use of the Edison patent rights and lowering the price of the electric lamp.<ref name="EDJ1929">"Diehl's Lamp Hit Edison Monopoly," Elizabeth Daily Journal, Friday Evening, October 25, 1929</ref>
 
On October 8, 1883, the [[United States Patent and Trademark Office|US patent office]] ruled that Edison's patent was based on the work of William Sawyer and was therefore invalid. Litigation continued for nearly six years, until October 6, 1889, when a judge ruled that Edison's electric-light improvement claim for "a filament of carbon of high resistance" was valid. To avoid a possible court battle with [[Joseph Swan]], whose British patent had been awarded a year before Edison's, he and Swan formed a joint company called [[Ediswan]] to manufacture and market the invention in Britain.
 
[[Mahen Theatre]] in [[Brno]] (in what is now the Czech Republic) was the first public building in the world to use Edison's electric lamps, with the installation supervised by Edison's assistant in the invention of the lamp, [[Francis Jehl]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ndbrno.cz/en/about-us/theatre-buildings/mahen-theatre/history-of-mahen-theatre/history-mt/ |title=About the Memory of a Theatre |accessdate=December 30, 2007|work=National Theatre Brno |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080119092027/http://www.ndbrno.cz/en/about-us/theatre-buildings/mahen-theatre/history-of-mahen-theatre/history-mt/ |archivedate = January 19, 2008}}</ref> In September 2010, a sculpture of three giant light bulbs was erected in Brno, in front of the theatre.<ref>[http://brnonow.com/2010/09/light-bulbs-edison/ Sculpture of three giant light bulbs: in memory of Thomas Alva Edison]</ref>
 
=== Electric power distribution ===
Edison patented a system for [[electricity distribution]] in 1880, which was essential to capitalize on the invention of the electric lamp. On December 17, 1880, Edison founded the [[Edison Illuminating Company]]. The company established the first investor-owned electric utility in 1882 on [[Pearl Street Station]], New York City. It was on September 4, 1882, that Edison switched on his [[Pearl Street (Manhattan)|Pearl Street]] generating station's electrical power distribution system, which provided 110 volts [[direct current]] (DC) to 59 customers in lower [[Manhattan]].<ref>[http://www.coned.com/history/electricity.asp A brief history of Con Edison:"Electricity"]</ref>
 
Earlier in the year, in January 1882, he had switched on the first steam-generating power station at [[Holborn Viaduct]] in London. The DC supply system provided electricity supplies to street lamps and several private dwellings within a short distance of the station. On January 19, 1883, the first standardized incandescent electric lighting system employing [[overhead lines|overhead wires]] began service in [[Roselle, New Jersey]].
 
=== War of currents ===
{{Main|War of Currents}}
[[File:PyramidParthenon.jpg|thumb|250px|Extravagant displays of electric lights quickly became a feature of public events, as in this picture from the 1897 [[Tennessee Centennial Exposition]].]]
Edison's true success, like that of his friend [[Henry Ford]], was in his ability to maximize profits through establishment of mass-production systems and intellectual property rights. [[George Westinghouse]] and Edison became adversaries because of Edison's promotion of [[direct current]] (DC) for electric power distribution instead of the more easily transmitted [[alternating current]] (AC) system invented by [[Nikola Tesla]] and promoted by Westinghouse. Unlike DC, AC could be stepped up to very high voltages with [[transformer]]s, sent over thinner and cheaper wires, and stepped down again at the destination for distribution to users.
 
In 1887 there were 121&nbsp;Edison power stations in the United States delivering DC electricity to customers. When the limitations of DC were discussed by the public, Edison launched a propaganda campaign to convince people that AC was far too dangerous to use. The problem with DC was that the power plants could economically deliver DC electricity only to customers within about one and a half miles (about 2.4&nbsp;km) from the generating station, so that it was suitable only for central business districts. When George Westinghouse suggested using [[high voltage|high-voltage]] AC instead, as it could carry electricity hundreds of miles with marginal loss of power, Edison waged a "[[War of Currents]]" to prevent AC from being adopted.
 
The war against AC led him to become involved in the development and promotion of the [[electric chair]] (using AC) as an attempt to portray AC to have greater lethal potential than DC. Edison went on to carry out a brief but intense campaign to ban the use of AC or to limit the allowable voltage for safety purposes. As part of this campaign, Edison's employees publicly [[electric shock|electrocuted]] animals to demonstrate the dangers of AC;<ref>{{cite web| url=http://imdb.com/title/tt0231523/| title=IMDB entry on Electrocuting an Elephant (1903)| accessdate=March 11, 2006|archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5umTcoYmt |archivedate = December 6, 2010|deadurl=no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/01/dayintech_0104?| title=Wired Magazine: "Jan. 4, 1903: Edison Fries an Elephant to Prove His Point"| accessdate=January 4, 2008|archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5umTeRG1I |archivedate = December 6, 2010|deadurl=no| date=January 4, 2008}}</ref> alternating electric currents are slightly more dangerous in that frequencies near 60&nbsp;Hz have a markedly greater potential for inducing fatal "cardiac fibrillation" than do direct currents.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bassengineering.com/E_Effect.htm|title=Electrocution Thresholds for Humans|accessdate=February 26, 2009|archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5umTdioPH |archivedate = December 6, 2010|deadurl=no}}</ref> On one of the more notable occasions, in 1903, Edison's workers electrocuted [[Topsy (elephant)|Topsy the elephant]] at Luna Park, near [[Coney Island]], after she had killed several men and her owners wanted her put to death.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/01/dayintech_0104 |title=Jan. 4, 1903: Edison Fries an Elephant to Prove His Point |accessdate=January 4, 2008|author=Tony Long |date=January 4, 2008 |publisher=AlterNet|archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5umTeRG1I |archivedate = December 6, 2010|deadurl=no}}</ref> His company filmed the electrocution.
 
AC replaced DC in most instances of generation and power distribution, enormously extending the range and improving the efficiency of power distribution. Though widespread use of DC ultimately lost favor for distribution, it exists today primarily in long-distance [[high-voltage direct current]] (HVDC) transmission systems. Low-voltage DC distribution continued to be used in high-density downtown areas for many years but was eventually replaced by AC low-voltage network distribution in many of them.<ref name="cityroom.blogs.nytimes">{{cite news |first=Jennifer |last=Lee |title=Off Goes the Power Current Started by Thomas Edison |url=http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/off-goes-the-power-current-started-by-thomas-edison/ |work=The New York Times Company |date=November 14, 2007 |accessdate=December 30, 2007}}</ref>
 
DC had the advantage that large [[battery (electricity)|battery]] banks could maintain continuous power through brief interruptions of the electric supply from generators and the [[transmission system]]. Utilities such as [[Commonwealth Edison]] in Chicago had [[rotary converter]]s or [[motor-generator]] sets, which could change DC to AC and AC to various frequencies in the early to mid-20th century. Utilities supplied rectifiers to convert the low voltage AC to DC for such DC loads as elevators, fans and pumps. There were still 1,600&nbsp;DC customers in downtown New York City as of 2005, and service was finally discontinued only on November 14, 2007.<ref name="cityroom.blogs.nytimes" /> Most [[Rapid transit|subway systems]] are still powered by direct current.
 
=== Fluoroscopy ===
Edison is credited with designing and producing the first commercially available [[fluoroscopy|fluoroscope]], a machine that uses [[X-rays]] to take [[radiographs]]. Until Edison discovered that [[Scheelite|calcium tungstate]] fluoroscopy screens produced brighter images than the barium [[platinocyanide]] screens originally used by [[Wilhelm Röntgen]], the technology was capable of producing only very faint images.
 
The fundamental design of Edison's fluoroscope is still in use today, despite the fact that Edison himself abandoned the project after nearly losing his own eyesight and seriously injuring his assistant, [[Clarence Madison Dally|Clarence Dally]]. Dally had made himself an enthusiastic human guinea pig for the fluoroscopy project and in the process been exposed to a poisonous dose of radiation. He later died of injuries related to the exposure. In 1903, a shaken Edison said "Don't talk to me about X-rays, I am afraid of them."<ref>Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library: Edison fears the hidden perils of the x-rays. New York Worldb/, August 3, 1903, Durham, NC.</ref>
 
=== Work relations ===
[[File:Thomas Edison cabinet card by Victor Daireaux, c1880s.JPG|thumb|Photograph of Thomas Edison by Victor Daireaux, Paris, circa 1880s]]
{{anchor|sprague}}[[Frank J. Sprague]], a competent mathematician and former [[United States Navy|naval officer]], was recruited by [[Edward H. Johnson]] and joined the Edison organization in 1883. One of Sprague's contributions to the Edison Laboratory at Menlo Park was to expand Edison's mathematical methods. Despite the common belief that Edison did not use mathematics, analysis of his notebooks reveal that he was an astute user of mathematical analysis conducted by his assistants such as [[Francis Robbins Upton]], for example, determining the critical parameters of his electric lighting system including lamp resistance by an analysis of [[Ohm's Law]], [[Joule's Law]] and economics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://edison.rutgers.edu/ |title=The Thomas A. Edison Papers |publisher=Edison.rutgers.edu |accessdate=January 29, 2009|archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5QWPkyLnu |archivedate = July 22, 2007|deadurl=no}}</ref>
 
{{anchor|tesla}}Another of Edison's assistants was [[Nikola Tesla]]. Tesla claimed that Edison had promised him $50,000 if he succeeded in making improvements to his DC generation plants. Several months later, when Tesla had finished the work and asked to be paid, he said that Edison replied, "When you become a full-fledged American you will appreciate an American joke."<ref>{{cite web| title=Tesla – Master of Lightning:Coming to America| url=http://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/ll_america.html| accessdate=March 11, 2006|archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5umTfDKWO |archivedate = December 6, 2010|deadurl=no}}</ref>
 
Tesla immediately resigned. With Tesla's salary of $18 per week, the payment would have amounted to over 53 years' pay and the amount was equal to the initial capital of the company. Another account states that Tesla resigned when he was refused a raise to $25 per week.<ref>Jonnes, p110</ref>
 
Although Tesla accepted an [[Edison Medal]] later in life, this and other negative events concerning Edison remained with him. The day after Edison died, the ''[[New York Times]]'' contained extensive coverage of Edison's life, with the only negative opinion coming from Tesla who was quoted as saying:
 
{{quote|He had no hobby, cared for no sort of amusement of any kind and lived in utter disregard of the most elementary rules of hygiene. [...] His method was inefficient in the extreme, for an immense ground had to be covered to get anything at all unless blind chance intervened and, at first, I was almost a sorry witness of his doings, knowing that just a little theory and calculation would have saved him 90% of the labour. But he had a veritable contempt for book learning and mathematical knowledge, trusting himself entirely to his inventor's instinct and practical American sense.<ref>''[[New York Times]]''. October 19, 1931.</ref>|Nikola Tesla}}
 
One of Edison's famous quotations about his attempts to make the light globe suggest that perhaps Tesla was right about Edison's methods of working: "If I find 10,000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward."<ref>{{cite news |title=Quotations Page |url=http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/35566.html|archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5umTfWm54 |archivedate = December 6, 2010|deadurl=no}}</ref>
 
When Edison was a very old man and close to death, he said, in looking back, that the biggest mistake he had made was in not respecting Tesla or his work.<ref>{{cite news |coauthors= |title=Tesla Says Edison was an Empiricist. Electrical Technician Declares Persistent Trials Attested Inventor's Vigor. 'His Method Inefficient' A Little Theory Would Have Saved Him 90% of Labor, Ex-Aide Asserts. Praises His Great Genius |url= |quote=Nikola Tesla, one of the world's outstanding electrical technicians, who came to America in 1884 to work with Thomas A. Edison, specifically in the designing of motors and generators, recounted yesterday some of&nbsp;... |work=New York Times |date=October 19, 1931}}</ref>
 
There were 28 men recognized as [[Edison Pioneers]].
 
=== Media inventions ===
The key to Edison's fortunes was telegraphy. With knowledge gained from years of working as a telegraph operator, he learned the basics of electricity. This allowed him to make his early fortune with the [[ticker tape|stock ticker]], the first electricity-based broadcast system. Edison patented the sound recording and reproducing phonograph in 1878. Edison was also granted a patent for the motion picture camera or "Kinetograph". He did the electromechanical design, while his employee [[W.K.L. Dickson]], a photographer, worked on the photographic and optical development. Much of the credit for the invention belongs to Dickson.<ref name=Israel /> In 1891, Thomas Edison built a [[Kinetoscope]], or peep-hole viewer. This device was installed in penny arcades, where people could watch short, simple films. The kinetograph and kinetoscope were both first publicly exhibited May 20, 1891.<ref>{{cite web| title=History of Edison Motion Pictures | url=http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/edhtml/edmvhist.html| accessdate=October 14, 2007|archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5umTfhBN2 |archivedate = December 6, 2010|deadurl=no}}</ref>
 
On August 9, 1892, Edison received a patent for a two-way telegraph. In April 1896, [[Thomas Armat|Thomas Armat's]] [[Vitascope]], manufactured by the Edison factory and marketed in Edison's name, was used to project motion pictures in public screenings in New York City. Later he exhibited motion pictures with voice soundtrack on cylinder recordings, mechanically synchronized with the film.
 
[[File:Leonard Cushing Kinetograph 1894.ogv|thumb|The June 1894 Leonard–Cushing bout. Each of the six one-minute rounds recorded by the Kinetoscope was made available to exhibitors for $22.50.<ref>[http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/papr:@filreq(@field(NUMBER+@band(edmp+4026))+@field(COLLID+edison)) Leonard–Cushing fight] Part of the Library of Congress/''Inventing Entertainment'' educational website. Retrieved December 14, 2006.</ref> Customers who watched the final round saw Leonard score a knockdown.]]
Officially the kinetoscope entered Europe when the rich American Businessman [[Irving T. Bush]] (1869–1948) bought from the Continental Commerce Company of Frank Z. Maguire and Joseph D. Baucus a dozen machines. Bush placed from October 17, 1894, the first kinetoscopes in London. At the same time the French company Kinétoscope Edison Michel et Alexis Werner bought these machines for the market in France. In the last three months of 1894, The Continental Commerce Company sold hundreds of kinetoscopes in Europe (i.e. the Netherlands and Italy). In Germany and in [[Austria-Hungary]] the kinetoscope was introduced by the Deutsche-österreichische-Edison-Kinetoscop Gesellschaft, founded by the Ludwig Stollwerck<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.victorian-cinema.net/stollwerck.htm |title=Martin Loiperdinger. ''Film & Schokolade. Stollwercks Geschäfte mit lebenden Bildern ''. KINtop Schriften Stroemfeld Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, Basel 1999 ISBN 3-87877-764-7 (Buch) ISBN 3-87877-760-4 (Buch und Videocassette) |publisher=Victorian-cinema.net |accessdate=January 29, 2009|archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5umTfv73B |archivedate = December 6, 2010|deadurl=no}}</ref> of the Schokoladen-Süsswarenfabrik Stollwerck & Co of Cologne.
 
The first kinetoscopes arrived in Belgium at the [[Fairs]] in early 1895. The Edison's Kinétoscope Français, a Belgian company, was founded in Brussels on January 15, 1895, with the rights to sell the kinetoscopes in Monaco, France and the French colonies. The main investors in this company were Belgian industrialists.<ref name="Imdb.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/company/co0111244/ |title=Guido Convents, ''Van Kinetoscoop tot Cafe-Cine de Eerste Jaren van de Film in Belgie, 1894–1908, pp. 33–69.'' Universitaire Pers Leuven. Leuven: 2000. Guido Convents, "'Edison's Kinetscope in Belgium, or, Scientists, Admirers, Businessmen, Industrialists and Crooks", pp. 249–258. in C. Dupré la Tour, A. Gaudreault, R. Pearson (Ed.) ''Cinema at the Turn of the Century''. Québec, 1999 |publisher=Imdb.com |accessdate=January 29, 2009|archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5umTgFAJO |archivedate = December 6, 2010|deadurl=no}}</ref>
 
On May 14, 1895, the Edison's Kinétoscope Belge was founded in Brussels. The businessman Ladislas-Victor Lewitzki, living in London but active in Belgium and France, took the initiative in starting this business. He had contacts with [[Leon Gaumont]] and the [[American Mutoscope and Biograph]] Co. In 1898 he also became a shareholder of the Biograph and Mutoscope Company for France.<ref name="Imdb.com"/>
 
In 1901, he visited the [[Greater Sudbury|Sudbury]] area in Ontario, Canada, as a mining prospector, and is credited with the original discovery of the [[Falconbridge, Greater Sudbury, Ontario|Falconbridge]] ore body. His attempts to mine the ore body were not successful, however, and he abandoned his mining claim in 1903.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sudburymuseums.ca/index.cfm?app=w_vmuseum&lang=en&currID=2031&parID=2029 |title=Thomas Edison |accessdate=December 30, 2007|work=[[Greater Sudbury Heritage Museums]] |archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5umTghSyU |archivedate = December 6, 2010|deadurl=no}}</ref> A street in Falconbridge, as well as the [[Edison Building (Falconbridge)|Edison Building]], which served as the head office of [[Falconbridge Ltd.|Falconbridge Mines]], are named for him.
 
In 1902, agents of Thomas Edison bribed a theater owner in London for a copy of ''[[A Trip to the Moon]]'' by [[Georges Méliès]]. Edison then made hundreds of copies and showed them in New York City. Méliès received no compensation. He was counting on taking the film to the US and recapture its huge cost by showing it throughout the country when he realized it had already been shown there by Edison. This effectively bankrupted Méliès.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=Nkyr7ARHY6sC&pg=PA36&sig=tjDUDk-sLW7WviFE0_So3zYeDWs#PPA36,M1 Rémi Fournier Lanzoni, French Cinema: From Its Beginnings to the Present], (2002)</ref>
 
Other exhibitors similarly routinely copied and exhibited each others films.<ref>[http://www.victorian-cinema.net/lubin.htm Siegmund Lubin (1851–1923)], Who's Who of Victorian Cinema. Retrieved August 20, 2007.</ref> To better protect the copyrights on his films, Edison deposited prints of them on long strips of [[photographic paper]] with the [[U.S. copyright office]]. Many of these paper prints survived longer and in better condition than the actual films of that era.<ref>[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/edhtml/edmvhist1.html#EE "History of Edison Motion Pictures: Early Edison Motion Picture Production (1892–1895)"], Memory.loc.gov, [[Library of Congress]]. Retrieved August 20, 2007.</ref>
 
Edison's favorite movie was ''[[The Birth of a Nation]]''. He thought that talkies had "spoiled everything" for him. "There isn't any good acting on the screen. They concentrate on the voice now and have forgotten how to act. I can sense it more than you because I am deaf."<ref name="condensed1042">Reader's Digest, March 1930, pp. 1042–1044, "Living With a Genius", condensed from The American Magazine February 1930</ref> His favorite stars were [[Mary Pickford]] and [[Clara Bow]].<ref>"Edison Wears Silk Nightshirt, Hates Talkies, Writes Wife", Capital Times, October 30, 1930</ref>
 
In 1908, Edison started the [[Motion Picture Patents Company]], which was a conglomerate of nine major film studios (commonly known as the Edison Trust). Thomas Edison was the first honorary fellow of the [[Acoustical Society of America]], which was founded in 1929.
 
== West Orange and Fort Myers (1886–1931) ==
[[File:Edison battery exhibit, 1915.jpg|thumb|Thomas A. Edison Industries Exhibit, Primary Battery section, 1915]]
[[File:Ford Edison Firestone1.jpg|thumb|[[Henry Ford]], Thomas Edison, and [[Harvey Firestone]], respectively. [[Ft. Myers]], Florida, February 11, 1929]]
 
Edison moved from Menlo Park after the death of Mary Stilwell and purchased a home known as "[[Thomas Edison National Historical Park|Glenmont]]" in 1886 as a wedding gift for Mina in [[Llewellyn Park]] in [[West Orange, New Jersey]]. In 1885, Thomas Edison bought property in [[Fort Myers, Florida|Fort Myers]], Florida, and built what was later called [[Seminole Lodge (Thomas Edison)|Seminole Lodge]] as a winter retreat. Edison and his wife Mina spent many winters in Fort Myers where they recreated and Edison tried to find a domestic source of natural rubber.
 
[[Henry Ford]], the automobile magnate, later lived a few hundred feet away from Edison at his winter retreat in Fort Myers, Florida. Edison even contributed technology to the automobile. They were friends until Edison's death.
 
In 1928, Edison joined the Fort Myers [[Civitan International|Civitan Club]]. He believed strongly in the organization, writing that "The Civitan Club is doing things —big things— for the community, state, and nation, and I certainly consider it an honor to be numbered in its ranks."<ref>{{cite book |last= Armbrester |first= Margaret E. |title= The Civitan Story |year= 1992 |publisher=Ebsco Media |location= Birmingham, AL |page= 34 }}</ref> He was an active member in the club until his death, sometimes bringing Henry Ford to the club's meetings.
 
==The final years==
Edison was active in business right up to the end. Just months before his death in 1931, the [[Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad|Lackawanna Railroad]] implemented electric trains in suburban service from [[Hoboken, New Jersey|Hoboken]] to [[Gladstone, New Jersey|Gladstone]], [[Montclair, New Jersey|Montclair]] and [[Dover, New Jersey|Dover]] in New Jersey. Transmission was by means of an overhead catenary system, with the entire project under Edison's guidance. To the surprise of many, he was at the throttle of the very first MU (Multiple-Unit) train to depart Lackawanna Terminal in Hoboken, driving the train all the way to Dover.<ref name="Holland 2001">{{cite book |title=Classic American Railroad Terminals |last=Holland |first=Kevin J. |year=2001 |publisher=MBI Publishing Company |isbn=978-0-7603-0832-5 }}</ref>
 
As another tribute to his lasting legacy, the same fleet of cars Edison deployed on the Lackawanna in 1931 served commuters until their retirement in 1984, when some of them were purchased by the [[Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum]] in [[Lenox, Massachusetts]]. A special plaque commemorating the joint achievement of both the railway and Edison can be seen today in the waiting room of Lackawanna Terminal in Hoboken, presently operated by [[New Jersey Transit]].<ref name="Holland 2001"/>
 
Edison was said to have been influenced by a popular [[Food faddism|fad diet]] in his last few years; "the only liquid he consumed was a pint of milk every three hours".<ref name="Israel">{{cite book |last=Israel |first=Paul |authorlink=Paul Israel |title=Edison: A Life of Invention |year=2000 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=978-0-471-36270-8 }}</ref> He is reported to have believed this diet would restore his health. However, this tale is doubtful. In 1930, the year before Edison died, Mina said in an interview about him that "Correct eating is one of his greatest hobbies." She also said that during one of his periodic "great scientific adventures", Edison would be up at 7:00, have breakfast at 8:00, and be rarely home for lunch or dinner, implying that he continued to have all three.<ref name="condensed1042" />
 
Edison became the owner of his [[Milan, Ohio]], birthplace in 1906. On his last visit, in 1923, he was shocked to find his old home still lit by lamps and candles.
 
Thomas Edison died of complications of diabetes on October 18, 1931, in his home, "Glenmont" in [[Llewellyn Park]] in [[West Orange, New Jersey]], which he had purchased in 1886 as a wedding gift for Mina. He is buried behind the home.<ref>{{cite news |coauthors= |title=Thomas Edison Dies in Coma at 84; Family With Him as the End Comes; Inventor Succumbs at 3:24&nbsp;A.M. After Fight for Life Since He Was Stricken on August 1. World-Wide Tribute Is Paid to Him as a Benefactor of Mankind |url= |quote=[[West Orange, New Jersey]], Sunday, October 18, 1931. Thomas Alva Edison died at 3:24 o'clock this morning at his home, Glenmont, in the Llewellyn Park section of this city. The great inventor, the fruits of whose genius so magically transformed the everyday world, was 84 years and 8 months old. |work=New York Times |date=October 18, 1931}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title= Where are they buried? How did they die? |last= Benoit |first= Tod |year= 2003|publisher=Black Dog & Leventhal|isbn=978-1-57912-678-0|page= 560|url= }}</ref>
 
Edison's last breath is reportedly contained in a test tube at the [[Henry Ford]] Museum. Ford reportedly convinced Charles Edison to seal a test tube of air in the inventor's room shortly after his death, as a memento. A plaster [[death mask]] was also made.<ref>[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_128a.html "Is Thomas Edison's last breath preserved in a test tube in the Henry Ford Museum?"], [[The Straight Dope]], September 11, 1987. Retrieved August 20, 2007.</ref>
 
Mina died in 1947.
 
== Views on politics, religion and metaphysics ==
Historian Paul Israel has characterized Edison as a "[[Freethought|freethinker]]".<ref name=Israel /> Edison was heavily influenced by [[Thomas Paine]]'s ''[[The Age of Reason]]''.<ref name=Israel /> Edison defended Paine's "scientific [[deism]]", saying, "He has been called an [[atheism|atheist]], but atheist he was not. Paine believed in a supreme intelligence, as representing the idea which other men often express by the name of deity."<ref name=Israel /> In an October 2, 1910, interview in the ''[[New York Times Magazine]],'' Edison stated:
<blockquote>
Nature is what we know. We do not know the gods of religions. And nature is not kind, or merciful, or loving. If God made me&nbsp;— the fabled God of the three qualities of which I spoke: mercy, kindness, love&nbsp;— He also made the fish I catch and eat. And where do His mercy, kindness, and love for that fish come in? No; nature made us&nbsp;— nature did it all&nbsp;— not the gods of the religions.<ref>{{cite news |coauthors= |title="No Immortality of the Soul" says Thomas A. Edison. In Fact, He Doesn't Believe There Is a Soul&nbsp;— Human Beings Only an Aggregate of Cells and the Brain Only a Wonderful Machine, Says Wizard of Electricity |url= |quote=Thomas A. Edison in the following interview for the first time speaks to the public on the vital subjects of the human soul and immortality. It will be bound to be a most fascinating, an amazing statement, from one of the most notable and interesting men of the age&nbsp;... Nature is what we know. We do not know the gods of religions. And nature is not kind, or merciful, or loving. If God made me&nbsp;— the fabled God of the three qualities of which I spoke: mercy, kindness, love&nbsp;— He also made the fish I catch and eat. And where do His mercy, kindness, and love for that fish come in? No; nature made us&nbsp;— nature did it all&nbsp;— not the gods of the religions. |work=New York Times |date=October 2, 1910, Sunday}}</ref>
</blockquote>
Edison was called an atheist for those remarks, and although he did not allow himself to be drawn into the controversy publicly, he clarified himself in a private letter: "You have misunderstood the whole article, because you jumped to the conclusion that it denies the existence of God. There is no such denial, what you call God I call Nature, the Supreme intelligence that rules matter. All the article states is that it is doubtful in my opinion if our intelligence or soul or whatever one may call it lives hereafter as an entity or disperses back again from whence it came, scattered amongst the cells of which we are made."<ref name=Israel />
 
Nonviolence was key to Edison's moral views, and when asked to serve as a naval consultant for World War I, he specified he would work only on defensive weapons and later noted, "I am proud of the fact that I never invented weapons to kill." Edison's philosophy of nonviolence extended to animals as well, about which he stated: "Nonviolence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages."<ref>Cited in [http://books.google.com/books?id=DtjWFiDKsJ0C&pg=PA37&dq=%22Still+savages%22+edison&ei=KiHMSLJSiNzKBIiglYsJ&sig=ACfU3U2IXFOuvGUriygDwhEkgvqyaefwEg Innovate Like Edison: The Success System of America's Greatest Inventor] by Sarah Miller Caldicott, Michael J. Gelb, page 37.</ref> However, he is also notorious for having electrocuted a number of dogs in 1888, both by direct and alternating current, in an attempt to argue that the former (which he had a vested business interest in promoting) was safer than the latter (favored by his rival [[George Westinghouse]]).<ref>Jonnes</ref>
 
Edison's success in promoting direct current as less lethal also led to alternating current being used in the electric chair [[Capital punishment in New York#Introduction of the electric chair|adopted by New York]] in 1889 as a supposedly humane execution method. Because Westinghouse was angered by the decision, he funded [[Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Eighth Amendment]]-based appeals for inmates set to die in the electric chair, ultimately resulting in Edison providing the generators which powered early electrocutions and testifying successfully on behalf of the state that electrocution was a painless method of execution.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://inventors.about.com/od/hstartinventions/a/Electric_Chair.htm|title=Death, Money, and the History of the Electric Chair|publisher=[[About.com]]|author=Bellis, Mary|accessdate=February 23, 2010|quote=On January 1, 1889, the world's first electrical execution law went into full effect. Westinghouse protested the decision and refused to sell any AC generators directly to prison authorities. Thomas Edison and Harold Brown provided the AC generators needed for the first working electric chairs. George Westinghouse funded the appeals for the first prisoners sentenced to death by electrocution, made on the grounds that "electrocution was cruel and unusual punishment." Edison and Brown both testified for the state that execution was a quick and painless form of death and the State of New York won the appeals.|archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5umThCy06 |archivedate = December 6, 2010|deadurl=no}}</ref>
 
== Tributes ==
===Places and people named for Edison===
Several places have been named after Edison, most notably the town of [[Edison, New Jersey]]. [[Thomas Edison State College]], a nationally known college for adult learners, is in [[Trenton, New Jersey]]. Two community colleges are named for him: [[Edison State College]] in Fort Myers, Florida, and
Edison Community College in [[Piqua, Ohio]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.edison.cc.oh.us/ |title=Edison Community College (Ohio) |publisher=Edison.cc.oh.us |accessdate=January 29, 2009}}</ref> There are numerous high schools named after Edison; see [[Edison High School]].
 
The City Hotel, in [[Sunbury, Pennsylvania]], was the first building to be lit with Edison's three-wire system. The hotel was re-named The Hotel Edison, and retains that name today.
 
Three bridges around the United States have been named in his honor (see [[Edison Bridge (disambiguation)|Edison Bridge]]).
 
In space, his name is commemorated in [[asteroid]] [[742 Edisona]].
 
The Russian composer [[Edison Denisov]], whose father was a radio-physicist, was named after the inventor.
 
===Museums and memorials===
[[File:Thomas Edison 1.jpg|thumb|Statue of young Thomas Edison by the railroad tracks in Port Huron, Michigan.]]
In West Orange, New Jersey, the 13.5&nbsp;acre (5.5&nbsp;ha) Glenmont estate is maintained and operated by the [[National Park Service]] as the [[Edison National Historic Site]].<ref>[http://www.nps.gov/edis/ Thomas Edison National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)]</ref> The [[Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower and Museum]] is in the town of Edison, New Jersey.<ref>[http://www.menloparkmuseum.org/tower-restoration Menlo Park Museum, Tower-Restoration]. Retrieved September 28, 2010.</ref> In [[Beaumont, Texas]], there is an Edison Museum, though Edison never visited there.{{Citation needed|date=August 2008}}
 
The [[Port Huron Museum]], in [[Port Huron, Michigan]], restored the original depot that Thomas Edison worked out of as a young newsbutcher. The depot has been named the [[Thomas Edison Depot Museum]].<ref>[http://www.phmuseum.org/drupal/about/depot Thomas Edison Depot]. Retrieved September 28, 2010.</ref> The town has many Edison historical landmarks, including the graves of Edison's parents, and a monument along the [[St. Clair River]]. Edison's influence can be seen throughout this city of 32,000.
 
In Detroit, the Edison Memorial Fountain in [[Grand Circus Park Historic District|Grand Circus Park]] was created to honor his achievements. The limestone fountain was dedicated October 21, 1929, the fiftieth anniversary of the creation of the lightbulb.<ref>[http://www.buildingsofdetroit.com/places/ef Edison Memorial Fountain] at Buildings of Detroit. Retrieved September 28, 2010.</ref> On the same night, [[The Henry Ford|The Edison Institute]] was dedicated in nearby [[Dearborn, Michigan|Dearborn]].
 
In early 2010, Edison was proposed by the [[Ohio Historical Society]] as a finalist in a statewide vote for inclusion in [[Statuary Hall]] at the [[United States Capitol]].
 
=== Companies bearing Edison's name ===
[[File:Эдисон Томас Альва фото ЖЗЛ.JPG|thumb|200px|In 1915]]
* Edison General Electric, merged with [[Thomson-Houston Electric Company]] to form [[General Electric]]
* [[Commonwealth Edison]], now part of [[Exelon]]
* [[Consolidated Edison]]
* [[Edison International]]
** [[Southern California Edison]]
** [[Edison Mission Energy]]
** Edison Capital
* [[Detroit Edison]], a unit of [[DTE Energy]]
* Edison Sault Electric Company, a unit of [[Wisconsin Energy Corporation]]
* [[FirstEnergy]]
** Metropolitan Edison
** Ohio Edison
** Toledo Edison
* [[Edison S.p.A.]], a unit of Italenergia
* [[Boston Edison]], a unit of [[NSTAR]], formerly known as the Edison Electric Illuminating Company
* [[WEEI]] radio station in Boston, established by the Edison Electric Illuminating Company (hence the call letters)
* Trade association the [[Edison Electric Institute]], a lobbying and research group for investor-owned utilities in the United States
* [[Edison Ore-Milling Company]]
* [[Edison Portland Cement Company]]
 
===Awards named in honor of Edison===
The [[Edison Medal]] was created on February 11, 1904, by a group of Edison's friends and associates. Four years later the [[American Institute of Electrical Engineers]] (AIEE), later [[Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers|IEEE]], entered into an agreement with the group to present the medal as its highest award. The first medal was presented in 1909 to [[Elihu Thomson]] and, in a twist of fate, was awarded to [[Nikola Tesla]] in 1917. It is the oldest award in the area of [[electrical engineering|electrical and electronics engineering]], and is presented annually "for a career of meritorious achievement in electrical science, electrical engineering or the electrical arts."
 
In the Netherlands, the major music awards are named the [[Edison Award]] after him.
 
The [[American Society of Mechanical Engineers]] concedes the Thomas A. Edison Patent Award to individual patents since 2000.<ref>{{cite web | title = Thomas A. Edison Patent Award | publisher=[[American Society of Mechanical Engineers]] | url = http://www.asme.org/Governance/Honors/SocietyAwards/Thomas_Edison_Patent_Award.cfm |archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5umTifXDW |archivedate = December 6, 2010|deadurl=no}}</ref>
 
===Honors and awards given to Edison===
 
The [[President of France|President]] of the [[French Third Republic|Third French Republic]], [[Jules Grévy]], on the recommendation of his [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (France)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]] [[Jules Barthélemy-Saint-Hilaire]] and with the presentations of the [[Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones (France)|Minister of Posts and Telegraphs]] [[Louis Adolphe Cochery|Louis Cochery]], designated Edison with the [[Légion d'honneur#The Order and other countries|''distinction'']] of an'' '[[Legion of Honour|Officer of the Legion of Honour]]' ''([[Légion d'honneur]]) by decree on November 10, 1881;<ref>[http://www.nndb.com/honors/139/000048992/ NNDB online website]. The same decree awarded German physicist [[Hermann von Helmholtz]] with the designation of Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor, as well as [[Alexander Graham Bell]]. The decree preamble cited ''"for services provided to the Congress and to the International Electrical Exhibition"''</ref> He also named a Chevalier in 1879, and a Commander in 1889.<ref name=BIO />
 
In 1887, Edison won the [[Matteucci Medal]]. In 1890, he was elected a member of the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]].
 
The [[Philadelphia City Council]] named Edison the recipient of the [[John Scott Medal]] in 1889.<ref name=BIO />
 
In 1899, Edison was awarded the [[Edward Longstreth Medal]] of [[The Franklin Institute]].<ref name="LongstrethMedal_Laureates">{{cite web|url=http://www.fi.edu/winners/show_results.faw?gs=&ln=&fn=&keyword=&subject=&award=LONG+&sy=1898&ey=1900&name=Submit |title=Franklin Laureate Database - Edward Longstreth Medal 1899 Laureates |publisher=[[Franklin Institute]] |accessdate={{Start date|2011|11|18}}}}</ref>
 
He was named an ''Honorable Consulting Engineer'' at the [[Louisiana Purchase Exposition]] [[World's fair]] in 1904.<ref name=BIO />
 
In 1908, Edison received the American Association of Engineering Societies [[John Fritz Medal]].<ref name=BIO />
 
Edison was awarded [[Franklin Medal]] of [[The Franklin Institute]] in 1915 for discoveries contributing to the foundation of industries and the well-being of the human race.
 
The [[United States Navy]] department awarded him the [[Distinguished Service Medal (United States)|Distinguished Service Medal]] in 1920.<ref name=BIO>{{cite book|last=Kennelly|first=Arthur E.|title=Biographical Memoir of Thomas Alva Edison|year=1932|publisher=National Academy of Sciences|pages=300-301|url=http://books.nap.edu/html/biomems/tedison.pdf}}</ref>
 
The [[American Institute of Electrical Engineers]] created the Edison Medal in 1923 and he was its first recipient.<ref name=BIO />
 
In 1927, he was granted membership in the [[National Academy of Sciences]].<ref name=BIO />
 
On May 29, 1928 Edison received the [[Congressional Gold Medal]].<ref name=BIO />
 
In 1983, the [[United States Congress]], pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 140 (Public Law 97—198), designated February 11, Edison's birthday, as National [[Inventor's Day]].
Edison was ranked thirty-fifth on [[Michael H. Hart|Michael H. Hart's]] 1978 book ''[[The 100]]'', a list of the most influential figures in history. ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' magazine (USA), in a special double issue in 1997, placed Edison first in the list of the "100 Most Important People in the Last 1000 Years", noting that the [[light bulb]] he promoted "lit up the world". In the 2005 television series ''[[The Greatest American]]'', he was voted by viewers as the fifteenth-greatest.
 
In 2008, Edison was inducted in the [[New Jersey Hall of Fame]].
 
In 2010, Edison was honored with a [[Technical Grammy Award]].
 
In 2011, Edison was inducted into the [[Entrepreneur Walk of Fame]], and named a [[Great Floridian]] by the Florida Governor and Cabinet.<ref>{{cite web|title=Great Floridian Program|url=http://www.flheritage.com/preservation/floridian/index.cfm|accessdate=2 April 2012}}</ref>
 
On November 6, 1915 The New York Times announced that both Edison and Tesla were to jointly receive the 1915 Nobel Prize but it did not occur.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F03E7D91239E333A25755C0A9679D946496D6CF |title=Edison and Tesla To Get Nobel Prizes - View Article - NYTimes.com |publisher=New York Times |date=1915-11-06 |accessdate=2011-12-11}}</ref> The details of what happened are not known but Tesla who had once worked for Edison quit when he was promised a large bonus for solving a problem and then after being successful was told the promise was a joke.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1619.html |title=Nikola Tesla |publisher=U-s-history.com |date= |accessdate=2011-12-11}}</ref> Telsa once said that if Edison had to find a needle in a haystack he would take apart the haystack one straw at a time.<ref>{{cite web|author=ThinkExist.com Quotations |url=http://thinkexist.com/quotation/if_edison_had_a_needle_to_find_in_a_haystack-he/346294.html |title=Nikola Tesla quotes |publisher=Thinkexist.com |date= |accessdate=2011-12-11}}</ref> The Prize was awarded to Sir William Henry Bragg and William Lawrence Bragg "for their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays" .
 
===Other items named after Edison===
The [[United States Navy]] named the [[USS Edison (DD-439)|USS ''Edison'' (DD-439)]], a [[Gleaves class destroyer]], in his honor in 1940. The ship was decommissioned a few months after the end of World War II. In 1962, the Navy commissioned [[USS Thomas A. Edison (SSBN-610)|USS ''Thomas A. Edison'' (SSBN-610)]], a fleet ballistic missile nuclear-powered submarine.
 
Decommissioned on December 1, 1983, ''Thomas A. Edison'' was stricken from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on April 30, 1986. She went through the Navy's [[Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program]] at [[Bremerton]], [[Washington (U.S. state)|Washington]], beginning on October 1, 1996. When she finished the program on December 1, 1997, she ceased to exist as a complete ship and was listed as scrapped.
 
===In popular culture===
{{Main|Thomas Edison in popular culture}}
 
Thomas Edison has appeared in [[popular culture]] as a character in novels, films, comics and video games. His prolific inventing helped make him an icon and he has made appearances in popular culture during his lifetime down to the present day. His history with [[Nikola Tesla]] has also provided dramatic tension and is a theme returned to numerous times.
 
On February 11, 2011, on Thomas Edison's 164th birthday, [[Google]]'s homepage featured an animated [[Google Doodle]] commemorating his many inventions. When the cursor was hovered over the doodle, a series of mechanisms seemed to move, causing a lightbulb to glow.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/logos/logos11-1.html#logo-2011edison11-hp|title=Google Doodle: Feb 11, 2011 – Thomas Edison's Birthday}}</ref>
 
== Novel Mentions ==
in Dos Passos' [[USA trilogy|The 42nd Parallel]], Thomas Edison is introduced as "The Electrical Wizard", a very handy and intellectual person. In his lifetime he held many different jobs and created many patents and inventions.<ref>Dos Passos, John. U.S.A. new york: literary classics of the united states, 1996. Print. U.S.A Trilogy.</ref>
 
== See also ==
{{Wikipedia books|Thomas Edison}}
* [[Animated Hero Classics]] – Animated DVD biography series of historical figures, including Thomas Edison
* [[John I. Beggs]]
* [[List of Edison patents]]
* [[List of people on stamps of Ireland]]
* [[Thomas Alva Edison Birthplace]]
* [[Thomas E. Murray]]
* [[Thomas Edison National Historical Park]]
* [[Phonomotor]]
* [[Joseph Swan]]
 
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