The Making of America: Thomas Edison
The Electrifying Edison
Thomas Edison helped create the American way of innovation but today the U.S. is in danger of losing its pre-eminence in science and technology More »
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Electricity
Edison perfected the incandescent bulb and devised a system of electrical current to serve homes and businesses. Then came the hard part More »
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Phonograph
The invention of the phonograph made Edison world-famous but it took him years to understand what it did best More »
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Movies
He and his talented team didn't just invent machinery for the movies they invented the magic More »
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Photos: The World's First R & D Lab
A small village in New Jersey was the setting for some of Edison's greatest inventions More »
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To-Do List
A peek inside the mind of one very busy man More »
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How It Works
Detailed diagrams of how a few of Edison's best inventions really worked More »
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Web Exclusive
The first convict to die in the electric chair gave Edison the chance to brand his rival Westinghouse as the man pushing a lethal current More »
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To Our Readers
In our annual history issue, we profile Thomas Edison, whose genius has shaped not only our lives but how we think about ourselves More »
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Video: Incredible Talking Machine
See (and hear) how the first phonograph recording earned Edison the nickname "The Wizard of Menlo Park" More »
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Video: The AC/DC Battle
Believing direct current to be superior to alternating current, Thomas Edison went to great lengths even electrocuting elephants to prove his point More »
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Video: Movie (and Talkie!) Pioneer
With films of Annie Oakley shooting, cats boxing and Frankenstein, Edison and his team were pioneers in early motion pictures More »
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Video: The Electric Light
When Thomas Edison sought to perfect the electric light, he had to create a complete electrical system to make it practical More »
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Video: Edison's Menlo Park Lab
Menlo Park, where Thomas Edison and his team perfected the light bulb and phonograph, was the world's first research and development lab More »
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