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N0KFQ > TODAY 18.10.14 17:06l 53 Lines 2340 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 38276_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Oct 18
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Sent: 141018/1500Z 38276@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.60
Oct 18, 1931:
Edison dies
Thomas Alva Edison, one of the most prolific inventors in
history, dies in West Orange, New Jersey, at the age of 84.
Born in Milan, Ohio, in 1847, Edison received little formal
schooling, which was customary for most Americans at the time. He
developed serious hearing problems at an early age, and this
disability provided the motivation for many of his inventions. At
age 16, he found work as a telegraph operator and soon was
devoting much of his energy and natural ingenuity toward
improving the telegraph system itself. By 1869, he was pursuing
invention full-time and in 1876 moved into a laboratory and
machine shop in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
Edison's experiments were guided by his remarkable intuition, but
he also took care to employ assistants who provided the
mathematical and technical expertise he lacked. At Menlo Park,
Edison continued his work on the telegraph, and in 1877 he
stumbled on one of his great inventions_the phonograph_while
working on a way to record telephone communication. Public
demonstrations of the phonograph made the Yankee inventor world
famous, and he was dubbed the "Wizard of Menlo Park."
Although the discovery of a way to record and play back sound
ensured him a place in the annals of history, it was just the
first of several Edison creations that would transform late
19th-century life. Among other notable inventions, Edison and his
assistants developed the first practical incandescent lightbulb
in 1879, and a forerunner of the movie camera and projector in
the late 1880s. In 1887, he opened the world's first industrial
research laboratory at West Orange, where he employed dozens of
workers to systematically investigate a given subject.
Perhaps his greatest contribution to the modern industrial world
came from his work in electricity. He developed a complete
electrical distribution system for light and power, set up the
world's first power plant in New York City, and invented the
alkaline battery, the first electric railroad, and a host of
other inventions that laid the basis for the modern electric
world. He continued to work into his 80s and acquired 1,093
patents in his lifetime. He died at his home in New Jersey on
October 18, 1931.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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