Thomas Edison

Fun Facts about Thomas Edison

• Edison was born in 1847 in Ohio. He was the youngest of seven children.
• Edison’s mother was an excellent school teacher. That is probably why she was able to teach Edison so well. Edison said about his mother, “All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.”
• Edison’s mother let him set up a chemistry lab in the basement, which made his father very nervous.
• Thomas Edison had scarlet fever when he was a child. The disease left him almost deaf.
• When Edison was twelve, he started publishing and selling a newspaper to train passengers.
• Edison started a fire on a train car doing chemistry experiments. He was kicked off the train.
• At age fifteen, he began operating telegraphs. At age 22, he invented an improved stock ticker for the stock exchange. He was paid $40,000 for this invention – a lot of money back then. Edison used the money to take care of his ill mother and become a full-time inventor.