Thomas Alva Edison1847-1931Thomas Alva Edison is one of America's most famous inventors. He invented the sound recording device, cinema and the light bulb. Thomas Edison was an extraordinary man who achieved many historic successes during his life. Edison was granted 1,093 U.S. patents in the fields of telegraphy, phonography, electric lighting, and photography. Some of the inventions Edison discovered were improvements on other inventions, others were things he invented himself, others with the help of other people, and others he simply stumbled upon by chance. Edison was very proud of his invention of phonography. Edison tried to invent things that everyone could use. Edison created the first invention factory to invent things. Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio on February 11, 1847 and died on October 18, 1931 in West Orange, New Jersey. Edison was the seventh and last child of Samuel and Nancy Edison. His parents did not have a particular background. His mother was a former schoolteacher and his father was a jack of all trades. He ran grocery stores, real estate and carpentry. Edison was a very curious child who asked a lot of questions. His siblings were Marion, William, Calie, Harriet, Samuel and Eliza. At the age of seven, Edison's family moved to Port Haron, Michigan. This is where Edison started school. After 3 months of study, Edison's teacher considers him a boring student. Edison's mother pulled him out of school and began teaching him at home herself. His parents didn't force him to learn things he didn't like. They encouraged him to learn on his own. They dedicated themselves to teaching him. They wanted him to learn the things that interested him most. When he was nine years old, his mother gave him an elementary science book. He explained how to do chemistry experiments at home. Edison did every experiment in the book. Soon he loved chemistry and began spending all his free time and money buying and doing chemistry experiments. By the age of ten, he had a science laboratory in his basement. His parents didn't like it. He spent too much time doing this. Edison always worked to help his family and for his experiments. Edison got his first job at the age of twelve as a train boy on the Grand Trunk Railway. Edison sold newspapers and candy to passengers. He also printed a newspaper called the Grand Trunk Herald every week...