Thomas A. (Thomas Alva) Edison

Born in Milan, Ohio, in 1847 and raised in Michigan, Thomas Alva Edison had little formal schooling and was largely educated at home by his mother. As a teenager he worked on railroads and as a telegraph operator, experiences that drew him into electrical technology and set him on the path to invention.

After early work on telegraphy, he became famous for the phonograph, practical improvements to electric lighting, and systems for generating and distributing electricity. He also played an important role in the development of motion-picture technology. Beyond individual inventions, he helped pioneer the industrial research laboratory, bringing teams of workers together to test, refine, and manufacture new ideas.

Edison spent much of his career in New Jersey, especially at Menlo Park and West Orange, where his laboratories became symbols of American ingenuity. He died in 1931, but his name remains closely tied to the modern age of sound, light, and recorded image.