February 11Although Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) is best known as the inventor of the incandescent electric light, his real achievement was to produce the first incandescent lamp of any practical value—one that could be produced inexpensively and distributed widely. In 1882 Edison lost a patent infringement case to Joseph Wilson Swan, who was developing an incandescent light at the same time in England. As a compromise, the two men combined their resources and formed the Edison and Swan Electric Lamp Company.
Edison's genius is credited with a number of other important inventions, among them the carbon transmitter (which brought Alexander Graham Bell's newly invented telephone into general use and led to the development of the microphone), the dictating machine, a method for transmitting telegraphic signals from ship to ship (or ship to shore), the Kinetoscope (which made the motion picture a reality), and the phonograph.
See also Edison Festival of Light
CONTACTS:
Thomas Edison Birthplace Museum
9 Edison Dr.
Milan, OH 44846
419-499-2135
www.tomedison.org
Henry Ford Museum at Greenfield Village
20900 Oakman Blvd.
Dearborn, MI 48124
800-835-5237 or 313-271-2455
www.thehenryford.org
SOURCES:
AmerBkDays-2000, p. 131
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