"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." -Thomas Edison
Samuel Edison was born on August 16, 1804 in Digby, Nova Scotia, Canada. He changed jobs many times throughout his life, starting with splitting shingles for roofs, to tailoring, to keeping a Tavern. In 1837 he joined the Mackenzie Rebellion, which was started by William Mackenzie. The rebellion failed and Samuel became an exiled politician activist in Canada, moved to the United States and met his future wife Nancy Elliott. They had four children before Samuel moved the family to Milan, Ohio; where they had Thomas Edison and two other children. Thomas was born on February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio. In 1854, the family moved to Port Huron, Michigan. Thomas attended public school for 12 weeks before he was labeled as a hyperactive child who was easily distracted. Nancy was a school teacher which proved useful when Thomas dropped out of school and was home schooled. He later said, "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."
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At age 11, Edison began to self-educate and learn independently. The next year, he convinced his parents to let him sell newspapers along the Grand Trunk Railroad line. By reading the newspaper everyday, he gathered enough information to start his own called the Grand Trunk Herald, which became a success with the passengers. He had been conducting chemical experiments in the baggage car when one of his experiments caught fire, he was then kicked off the train and forced to sell newspapers at the stations along the route. While working, he saved a 3 year-old from being run over by a train. The father of the child repaid him by teaching Thomas how to operate a telegraph. At age 15 and for the next five years he traveled throughout the Midwest subbing for the men who had gone to fight in the Civil War. This helped him become familiar with the electrical science behind the telegraph machine.
Four years later, Edison moved to Kentucky working the night shift for the Associated Press. This allowed him to spend his free time reading and experimenting. When Edison first started working with telegraphs his partial deafness wasn't a disability because the messages were in Morse code that was inscribed on a piece of paper. Later, as the technology advanced he found very few jobs opportunities, the receivers were equipped with a "sound key" which enabled the telegraphers to "read" the messages by the sound clicks.
In 1868, Edison visited his mother and father to find out his mom was mentally ill and his dad was without a job. He decided to go to Boston and secured a job with the Western Union Company, which at the time, was America’s center for science and culture. Edison soon designed an electronic voting recorder but the Massachusetts lawmakers were uninterested. They didn’t want the votes tallied quickly, they wanted to be able to have time to change the mind of legislators.
A year later, at age 22, Edison moved to New York and invented an improved stock ticker. The Gold and Stock Telegraph Company paid him $40,000 for the rights. This invention lead him to quitting his job as a telegrapher and becoming a full-time inventor.
Four years later, Edison moved to Kentucky working the night shift for the Associated Press. This allowed him to spend his free time reading and experimenting. When Edison first started working with telegraphs his partial deafness wasn't a disability because the messages were in Morse code that was inscribed on a piece of paper. Later, as the technology advanced he found very few jobs opportunities, the receivers were equipped with a "sound key" which enabled the telegraphers to "read" the messages by the sound clicks.
In 1868, Edison visited his mother and father to find out his mom was mentally ill and his dad was without a job. He decided to go to Boston and secured a job with the Western Union Company, which at the time, was America’s center for science and culture. Edison soon designed an electronic voting recorder but the Massachusetts lawmakers were uninterested. They didn’t want the votes tallied quickly, they wanted to be able to have time to change the mind of legislators.
A year later, at age 22, Edison moved to New York and invented an improved stock ticker. The Gold and Stock Telegraph Company paid him $40,000 for the rights. This invention lead him to quitting his job as a telegrapher and becoming a full-time inventor.