Thomas Alva Edison

Thomas Alva Edison was one of the greatest inventors of all time. He was born in 1847 and was one of seven children. When he was a child, he suffered from lots of illnesses and hearing problems. He learned to read and write by himself. He was not successful at school, so he left school when he was 12 years old. He was not a good student, but he was hardworking. He started selling newspapers and candy on trains. Then he built a small science lab with the money he earned. When he was 16, he had a chance to work in a telegraph o­ce. He worked hard during the day.  Often, he didn't go home and kept working in his laboratory at nights.

Everybody regarded him as a genius. He always said, "Genius is 99% hard work and 1% inspiration.” He got married twice. He proposed to his first wife by tapping the Morse code “Will you marry me?” on a gas pipe. His wife accepted the proposal by answering him “Yes, I will” in the Morse code, too. His first wife died ten years after they got married when Edison was 32. Two years later, he married his second wife. He became very famous because of inventions, and kept working until he was 70 years old.

He used to work 16 hours a day. He made 1,300 inventions in his lifetime. He died in 1931.