Introduction

We all know about the lightbulb-over-the-head cartoon. Everyone has seen it. It denotes an idea. If you're old enough, you probably think immediately about the inventor of the lightbulb, Thomas Edison.

There's one small problem with that thought, however; Edison did not truly invent the lightbulb. Many inventors before him had invented incandescent bulbs, but they went no further than to demonstrate how light can produce electricity.

Edison improved on the lightbulb, so much so that his patent made it possible to market it everywhere. That was the genius of Thomas Alva Edison. He has become America's most famous inventor. That is due to the fact that Edison didn't merely invent things, he stepped into the world of business and marketed them as well.

Edison developed many devices that would influence life all around the world. Where would we be today without motion pictures or music caught on CD or DVD? It was Edison who came up with the idea of the phonograph, which inevitably led to our modern digital devices.

Most ingenious of all, Edison applied the principles of mass production and incorporated teamwork on a large scale when it came to working on his inventions. This had never been done before. Edison and his team were granted over 1,000 patents, and most significant of all was what those patents meant to American life and to life all around the world.

Suddenly, Americans had lots of leisure time, and many were looking for new ways to fill up those empty hours. What could be better than to visit a movie theater or buy a phonograph and all the newest records? No longer were people forced to bed when it grew dark; now people everywhere were staying up all night long because electric lights and electric-power distribution were available.

Let us have a look at this remarkable inventor and businessman, Thomas Edison. The next time you pass those high transmission towers or walk past an electrical grid station, know that once a long time ago, there was a man who wanted nothing more than to give you the best life you could have. One that has never before been seen or experienced in the dark centuries of long ago.