Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison told journalists they would each receive a brief, private demonstration of the new light bulb’s capacities. They could marvel at what he had achieved before he swiftly ushered them away, ensuring they’d be out of the room long before the bulb burned out.

How Thomas Edison Tricked the Press Into Believing He'd Invented the Light Bulb

A year before he developed a working bulb, the "Wizard of Menlo Park" created the illusion that his prototype burned for more than a few minutes at a time

Mina’s goal was to keep the home—and women—central in modern society. Building on the home economists who came before her, she sought to define women’s work as work rather than a vague, idealized calling.

Mina Miller Edison Was Much More Than the Wife of the 'Wizard of Menlo Park'

The second wife of Thomas Edison, she viewed domestic labor as a science, calling herself a "home executive"

Nick Bergh handles a damaged wax cylinder, which the Endpoint Machine will be able to read without risk of further damage.

A Library's Mysterious Trove of Wax Cylinders Will Soon Break Its Century-Long Silence

The recordings may include mundane conversations—and some of opera’s most legendary singers

A photographer captured Thomas Edison asleep in his workshop in 1904. 

Need a Creative Boost? Nap Like Thomas Edison and Salvador Dalí

Waking up just after dozing off seems to be a science-backed source of inspiration

When all was said and done, Thomas Edison would call his talking dolls his "little monsters."

The Epic Failure of Thomas Edison's Talking Doll

Expensive, heavy, non-functioning and a little scary looking, the doll created by America's hero-inventor was a commercial flop

A 1928 portrait of physicist Albert Einstein by Lotte Jacobi

Tesla's Patents, Einstein's Letters and an Enigma Machine Are Up for Auction

Christie's Eureka! sale features personal and academic objects owned by 20th-century scientists

Thomas Edison's ideas fed the story that would become In the Deep of Time.

Thomas Edison’s Forgotten Sci-Fi Novel

By feeding his visions for the future to a well-regarded contemporary, the prolific inventor offered a peek into his brilliant mind

One of 50 rooms in the Colonial Revival mansion in Rochester, New York, where George Eastman lived for 27 years.

Visit the Homes of America's Greatest Inventors

Within these walls, our nation's most brilliant tinkerers once ate, slept and imagined

An illustration of Topsy from the St. Paul Globe on June 16, 1902.

Topsy the Elephant Was a Victim of Her Captors, Not Thomas Edison

Many believe Edison killed Topsy to prove a point, but some historians argue otherwise

The record for lights at a home, lawn included, is 601,736 bulbs.

Untangling the History of Christmas Lights

This bright idea was ahead of its time

Shocking.

Tesla vs. Edison Is a Video Game That Will Literally Shock You

Fight the 'War of the Currents'

Henry Ford is at the wheel with John Burroughs and Thomas Edison seated in the back of a Model T.

When America’s Titans of Industry and Innovation Went Road-Tripping Together

Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and their friends traveled the country in Model Ts, creating the Great American road trip in the process

An original schematic of Thomas Edison's speaking doll showing the phonograph mechanism inside

Listen to the Newly Reconstructed, Very Creepy Voices of Thomas Edison’s Dolls

A lab figured out how to hear the rare talking dolls without damaging the original recordings

Would You Pass Thomas Edison’s Employment Test?

Probably not.

Graphophone, recorded in October 1881. "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in our philosophy. I am a graphophone and my mother was a phonograph." Voice of Alexander Graham Bell's father.

Until Now, There Was No Play Button for the Recordings Bell and Edison Made in their Lab

An exhibition on sound kicks off the American History Museum's Year of Innovation, enabling visitors to hear some of the earliest recordings

Henry Ford whispers in Thomas Edison's ear

A Test Tube in Michigan Holds the Air From Thomas Edison's Death Room

Two famous inventors, one glass tube and a museum mystery

Thomas Edison's House of Wizardry

A visit to the invention factory where Edison would earn the nickname “Wizard of Menlo Park”

None

Thomas Edison a.k.a. The Movie Mogul Who Started LOLcats

Lightbulbs are nice, but it was Edison's kinetoscope 115 years ago today that brought us Hollywood and boxing cats

Page 1 of 1