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Thomas Alva Edison
[1847-1931]

short profile timeline direct current incandescent lightbulb motion pictures the phonograph works about Thomas Edison books by Thomas Edison plays, movies, other media links

"Edison is the new Gutenberg. He has invented the new printing."
— Vachel Lindsay [1879-1931], in 1915

"Genius is one percent inspiration, and ninety-nine percent perspiration."
— Thomas Alva Edison

A Brief Timeline of Edison's Life & Work

1847 Feb 11: Born in Milan, Ohio, USA Lived and worked at Menlo Park, New Jersey from early 1876 until early 1881 1876 Aug 8: Thomas Alva Edison received a patent for his mimeograph duplicator. 1877 Nov 21: Edison announced that he had invented the phonograph. 1878 Feb 19: Thomas Alva Edison received a patent for his phonograph. 1879 Oct 21: Edison perfected a workable electric light at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. 1879 Dec 20: Edison privately demonstrated the incandescent electric light at Menlo Park, New Jersey. 1879 Dec 31: First public demonstration of Edison's incandescent light at Menlo Park, New Jersey. 1880 Jan 27: Edison received a patent for his electric incandescent lamp. 1884: Hired immigrant electrical genius Nikola Tesla [1856-1943] to work on improvement of dynamos at Edison's lab/factory in New Jersey; Tesla resigned in 1885 because Edison reneged on promises of payment. 1891 Aug 24: Thomas Alva Edison filed patents for the Kinetograph 35mm camera & the Kinetoscope viewer.     1893 Feb 1: Edison completed work on the world's first motion picture studio in West Orange, New Jersey. 1893 May 9: First public demonstration of Edison's Kinetoscope in Brooklyn, New York. 1896 April 23: First public demonstration of Edison's Vitascope movie projection system at Koster and Bial's Music Hall in New York City. 1902: Edison made pirated prints of the silent short film "A Trip To The Moon" and distributed them across the U.S before French cinema pioneer Georges Méliès could do so, effectively stealing the U.S. box office revenue for what is considered Méliès's sci-fi masterpiece. 1931 Oct 18: Died in West Orange, New Jersey

     Incandescent Lightbulb     

Incandescent Light Bulb entry at Wikipedia
Museum of Electric Lamp Technology [est. 2002]

	"Evolution of The Electric Incandescent Lamp" [H. Cook 1889] by Frank L. Pope Read Books 8½x5¾ pb [4/2009] for $26.99 Kessinger Publng 9x6 pb [2/2008] for $15.56
	"Brilliant: The Evolution of Artificial Light" [2010]   by Jane Brox Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 8½x5½ hardcover [7/2010] for $15.00

Motion Pictures

	"Before The Nickelodeon: Edwin S. Porter & The Edison Manufacturing Company" [1991] by Charles Musser Univ CA Press 9¼x6 pb [6/91] out of print/used Univ CA Press 9¾x6¾ hardcover [6/91] out of print/used
	"Landmarks of Early Film" Volume 1 [1994] Image Ent b&w DVD [7/98] for $26.99 includes Edison Kinetoscope films (1894-96), films by the brothers Lumière (1895-97), films by French special effects pioneer Georges Méliès, documentary 'actualities' (1897-1910), and selected short films from 1903 to 1913
	"Thomas A. Edison and His Kinetographic Motion Pictures" [1995] by Charles Musser Rutgers Univ Press 9½x9 pb [9/95] out of print
	"Edison: The Invention of The Movies, 1891-1918" [2005] by Kino Video & M.O.M.A. Kino Video color/b&w DVD [2/2005] 4 disks for $89.99 full credits at IMDb
	"History of Motion Pictures: Early Films by Thomas Alva Edison" [2006] A2ZCDs b&w DVD set [11/2006] 11 disks for $159.65 bundle contains individual sets or disks as below: "Early Films by Thomas Alva Edison, Volume 1: 1891-98" [2-disk set] 130+ stunning news snippets, war footage and vintage silent comedies A2ZCDs b&w DVD [10/2005] 2 disks for $19.95 "Early Films by Thomas Alva Edison, Volume 2: 1899" [39 short films] A2ZCDs b&w DVD [10/2005] for $14.95 "Early Films by Thomas Alva Edison, Volume 3: 1900" [2-disk set, 70 short films] A2ZCDs b&w DVD [10/2005] 2 disks for $19.95 "Early Films by Thomas Alva Edison, Volume 4: 1901-02" [2-disk set, 60 films] A2ZCDs b&w DVD [10/2005] 2 disks for $19.95 "Early Films by Thomas Alva Edison, Volume 5: 1903-04 [2-disk set, 50 short films] A2ZCDs b&w DVD [10/2005] 2 disks for $19.95 "Early Films by Thomas Alva Edison, Volume 6: 1905-17" [19 short films] A2ZCDs b&w DVD [10/2005] for $14.95 "Early Films by Thomas Alva Edison, Volume 7: 1918-26" A2ZCDs b&w DVD [10/2005] for $14.95

Edison's "Jack and The Beanstalk" [1902 silent]
watch [10:00] free online at Internet Archive

"The  Great  Train  Robbery"
[Edison Mfg. Dec 1903]

The first movie with a plotted storyline was a Western! 11-minute silent short co-written & directed by Edwin S. Porter; starring Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson; listed in National Film Registry 1990 • credits from IMDb V.C.I. 100th Anniversary b&w DVD [12/2003] for $17.99 includes "Tumbleweeds" [1925 silent] with William S. Hart [1864-1946]; "The Battle of Elderbush Gulch" [1913 silent] by D.W. Griffith [1875-1948]; "The Heart of Texas Ryan" [1917 silent] with Tom Mix [1880-1940], plus extras

watch "The Great Train Robbery" [11:45] free online at Internet Archive

Edison's "Frankenstein" [1910 silent] much-wanted 'lost film'

"Treasure Island" 1-reel silent short [Edison Company May 1912]
Directed by J. Searle Dawley; starring Addison Rothermel, Ben F. Wilson, Charles Ogle, Mary Fuller, Laura Sawyer,
Richard Neill, James Gordon, Charles Sutton, William R. Randall • DVD/Blu-ray not available • credits at IMDb

"Children  Who  Labor"  [Edison/General Feb 1912]
13-minute short directed by Ashley Miller; written by Ethel Browning; starring Herbert Yost, Mary Fuller,
Edna May Weick; film is preserved at MoMA-NY • full credits at IMDb
available on the "More Treasures From American Film Archives" DVD box set [2004]

"The Patchwork Girl of Oz" [1914] /title/tt0004457/

http://www.amazon.com/Edisons-Fort-Myers-Discoveries-Heart/dp/1561643122/
http://www.amazon.com/Wizard-Menlo-Park-Thomas-Invented/dp/1400047633/
http://www.amazon.com/Birth-Talkies-Edison-Jolson/dp/0253107431/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401146/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455453/

Direct Current Electricity

'War of The Currents' entry at Wikipedia
Nikola Tesla [1856-1943] Pages at Maison d'Être Philosophy Bookstore
Spirit of America's {future} George Westinghouse [1846-1914] Page

	"AC/DC: The Savage Tale of the First Standards War" [2006] by Tom McNichol Jossey-Bass 9x6¼ hardcover [9/2006] for $18.21 Blackstone Audiobooks UNABR CD-ROM [5/2008] for $22.76
	"Edison and The Electric Chair: A Story of Light & Death" [2003] by Mark Essig Faced with competition against his direct current power by the superior & cheaper alternating current system of Nikola Tesla & George Westinghouse, Edison convinced the state of New York to switch capital punishment to electrocutions by 'lethal' AC (insisting that DC was perfectly safe). Walker & Co. 8¼x5½ pb [9/2005] for $11.70 Sutton Publng hardcover [11/2003] out of print/used
	"Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse & The Race To Electrify The World" [2003] by Jill Jonnes Random House 8x5¼ pb [10/2004] for $10.85 Random House 9&frac2x6½ hardcover [8/2003] out of print/used
	"Executioner's Current: Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse & The Invention of The Electric Chair" [2002] by Richard Moran Vintage 8x5¼ pb [11/2003] for $15.00 Knopf 9½x6½ hardcover [10/2002] out of print/used
	The Electric Chair: An Unnatural American History [1999] by Craig Brandon McFarland & Co. 9¼x6½ library hardcover [8/99] for $45.00
	"Blood and Volts: Edison, Tesla & The Electric Chair" [1997] by Th. Metzger Autonomedia pb [6/97] for $12.00

http://www.amazon.com/Power-Struggles-Scientific-Authority-Electricity/dp/0262195828/ [2008]
"Man, Moment, Machine: Thomas Edison & the Electric Chair" [History Channel]
http://www.amazon.com/History-Moment-Machine-Thomas-Electric/dp/B001CU7UN2/

The Phonograph

Phonograph {Gramophone, Record Player} entry at Wikipedia

"About A Hundred Years: A History of Sound Recording" audio CD [1997] Symposium audio CD [12/97] 38 tracks for $19.98 The 38 historical sound recordings on this CD include Thomas Edison's recital of 'Mary Had A Little Lamb' [1877], plus recordings of Sarah Bernhardt, Enrico Caruso, Winston Churchill, Arthur Conan Doyle, Mohandas K. Gandhi, W.C. Handy, ragtime composer Scott Joplin, Vladimir Ilich Lenin, Paul Robeson, John Philip Sousa & Leo Tolstoy

Plays, Movies, Other Media

"A Day with Thomas A. Edison" (1922) /tt0335032/

"Edison Tech" DVD [History Channel]
http://www.amazon.com/History-Modern-Marvels-Edison-Tech/dp/B001CU99VI/

"Biography: Thomas Edison" [History Channel]
http://www.amazon.com/Biography-Thomas-Edison-Father-Invention/dp/B000H0M3VW/

P.B.S. Thomas Alva Edison bio

"The Man Called Edison" docu

"Young Tom Edison" [] starring Mickey Rooney
http://www.amazon.com/Young-Tom-Edison-Mickey-Rooney/dp/B002EAYEGU/

	"Edison, The Man" [M.G.M. May 1940] The 82-year-old inventor recalls in flashback his life, from his invention at 22 of a stock market ticker. Directed by Clarence Brown; starring Spencer Tracy, Rita Johnson, Lynne Overman, Charles Coburn, Gene Lockhart & Henry Travers; Oscar nomination for Best Original Story Warner Bros. b&w DVD [6/2009] for $26.99 M.G.M./Warner Bros. b&w VHS [9/98] out of prodn/used 11"x17" poster from Amazon for $14.99 full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia
	"Dead At The Box Office" [1990] by John Dandola M.G.M. decides to reap free publicity by premiering the 1940 Spencer Tracy movie "Edison, The Man" in Thomas Edison's hometown of West Orange, New Jersey. Studio publicity girl Edie Kos-low is already juggling the press, the personalities of the stars, and interference by the locals when several murders the week before the premiere threaten the festivities and her job – and her life. Quincannon Publng Group pb [5/2001] out of print/used Quincannon Publng Group 7¾x5¼ pb [5/93] out of print/used book available at author's website previously published as "West of Orange" [1990] Tory Corner Editions mass pb [1990] out of print/used
	"Voices of History, Volume 2: Arts, Science & Exploration" [2006] British Library Sound Archive audio CD [1/2006] 2 disks for $41.49 38 tracks on 2 disks, mostly from very early in the XXth Century, including the voices of P.T. Barnum, Sarah Bernhardt, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Alva Edison (speech "Electricity and Progress"), Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Charles Lindbergh, Guglielmo Marconi, Robert Edwin Peary, Alice Ellen Terry & Leo Tolstoy

Works About Thomas Alva Edison

"The Life and Inventions of Thomas Alva Edision" [1894] by William Kennedy-Laurie Dickson, Edison's chief assistant Nabu Press 9¾x7½ facsimile pb [3/2010] for $25.65

"Thomas Alva Edison: King of The Inventors" by David C. King 1-878668-55-2

"Inventing The Future: A Photobiography of Thomas Alva Edison" [] by Marfé Ferguson Delano

http://www.amazon.com/Wizard-Menlo-Park-Thomas-Invented/dp/1400047633/
http://www.amazon.com/Story-Thomas-Edison-Landmark-Books/dp/0613025849/
http://www.amazon.com/Story-Thomas-Edison-Landmark-Books/dp/1442006501/ [2009]
http://www.amazon.com/Story-Thomas-Edison-Signature-books/dp/B0006AT63G/
http://www.amazon.com/Story-Thomas-Edison-Scholastic-Biography/dp/0590424033/
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Alva-Edison-Inventor-Entrepreneur/dp/0531122751/
http://www.amazon.com/Picture-Book-Thomas-Edison-Biography/dp/0823414140/
http://www.amazon.com/Edison-Life-Invention-Paul-Israel/dp/0471362700/
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Alva-Edison-Inventor-Biographies/dp/0893758426/
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Alva-Edison-Portraits-12-Adult/dp/0613854500/
http://www.amazon.com/Inventing-Future-Photobiography-Thomas-Photobiographies/dp/0792259343/
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Edison-Francis-Arthur-Jones/dp/0217902839/ [2009]
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Edison-Biography-Jan-Adkins/dp/0756652073/ [2009]
http://www.amazon.com/Edison-His-Life-Inventions-ebook/dp/B002BDUBRQ/ [2009]
http://www.amazon.com/Life-Inventions-Thomas-Alva-Edison/dp/110431343X/ orig 1894
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Alva-Edison-Francis-Rolt-Wheeler/dp/1103696769/ [2009]
http://www.amazon.com/Young-Thomas-Edison-Sterling-North/dp/0142412104/ [2009]
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Edison-Inventor-Inventors-Scientists/dp/0531222098/ [2009]
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Alva-Edison-Wizard-Menlo/dp/B001NMSH3G/ [2009]
http://www.amazon.com/Story-Thomas-Alva-Edison-Inventor/dp/1439526923/ [2008]
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Edison-Groundbreakers-Brian-Williams/dp/1439546673/ [2008]
http://www.amazon.com/Who-Was-Thomas-Alva-Edison/dp/1424221455/ [2008]
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Edison-Orange-Images-America/dp/0738557218/ [2008]
http://www.amazon.com/Wizard-Menlo-Park-Thomas-Invented/dp/1400047633/ [2008]
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Edison-Connection-Images-America/dp/0738513695
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0738505498 = Fort Myers

Books by Thomas Edison

"The 1930 American Scrapbook" [hardcover 1930]
by Thomas Alva Edison, illustrated with photos

"The Diary and Observations of Thomas Alva Edison" [1948, pb 1976]
edited by Dagobert D. Runes, illustrated with photos

"Phonographs and Gramophones" [pb 1977] by Thomas Alva Edison

"The Edison & Ford Quote Book" [hardcover 2003] by Thomas Alva Edison

Links
Thomas Edison entry at Wikipedia
Thomas Edison credits [1895-1922] at Internet Movie Database
Library of Congress Thomas Edison webpages
Inventing Entertainment: The Edison Companies
list of Edison's 1,093 patents

listed #9 on The Atlantic Monthly's Top 100 Most Influential Figures in American History [Dec 2006]
Edison National Historic Site in West Orange, New Jersey
Thomas Alva Edison in Menlo Park website
Edison Festival of Light [Feb 2009 = #71] in Fort Myers, Florida
Edison Memorial Tower [built 1938] & Menlo Park Museum in Edison, New Jersey
Edison Museum in Beaumont, Texas
'Edison Muckers' fansite of the Edison Innovation Foundation

Thomas Edison poster & photo catalog at AllPosters.com

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