His teachers thought he was stupid. His father called him "a little addled." He was deaf by age 12 and
never heard a bird sing again.
He would become the most prolific inventor in American history — 1,093 patents, the phonograph, the
practical light bulb, motion pictures, and the electrical grid that powers civilization.
This is the complete story of Thomas Edison — the man who said "Genius is 1% inspiration, 99%
perspiration" and proved it with his life.
■ THE STORY:
THE UNUSUAL CHILD
• Born 1847 in Milan, Ohio
• "Always at the foot of the class"
• Burned down his father's barn "to see what it would do"
• Mother homeschooled him: "She was the making of me"
• Deaf by age 12 — never explained why
THE NEWSBOY ENTREPRENEUR
• Selling newspapers on trains at age 12
• Built an empire of fruit stands, hired other boys
• Battle of Shiloh: 1,000 papers, 500% markup
• Printed the first newspaper on a moving train
• Set up chemistry lab on train — caught fire, ejected
THE INVENTION ADDICT
• Learned Morse code 18 hours a day
• "Like a junkie pursuing his next fix"
• Spent all money on batteries and spare parts
• Rarely slept — worked until he passed out
• Barely ate — 6 ounces per meal maximum
• Age 21: "I may live to be 50. I am going to hustle."
THE PHONOGRAPH (Accidental Discovery)
• Working on telephone transmitter, felt vibrations
• "Mary had a little lamb" — first recorded human voice
• People couldn't believe a machine could talk
• Became global celebrity overnight
THE LIGHT BULB
• $395,000 funding from JP Morgan
• Announced success too early — nervous breakdown
• "Insomnia squad" — thousands of experiments
• October 21, 1879: "EUREKA" — 13.5 hours
• Built the entire electrical grid from scratch
• September 4, 1882: New York illuminated
THE LEGACY
• Founded General Electric
• Invented "Hello" as telephone greeting
• Predicted solar power: "Someday someone will concentrate sunshine"
• Lost $3 million in mining — "never felt better in my life"
• 1,093 patents
■■ TIMESTAMPS:
[Update with actual timestamps]
00:00 - Introduction: The Wizard of Menlo Park
05:00 - The Unusual Child
12:00 - The Newsboy Entrepreneur
22:00 - The Telegraph Operator
30:00 - Early Inventions
40:00 - The Phonograph Discovery
50:00 - The Light Bulb Challenge
62:00 - Electrifying New York
72:00 - Edison vs Tesla
80:00 - The Mining Disaster
88:00 - Later Years and Legacy
■ KEY QUOTES:
"Genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration."
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
"My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me."
"I haven't heard a bird sing since I was 12 years old."
"I never had an idea in my life. Everything comes from the outside. The genius hangs around his
laboratory day and night."
■ BY THE NUMBERS:
• Patents: 1,093
• Light bulb experiments: Thousands
• First successful bulb: 13.5 hours
• Sold telephone rights: $100,000 (lost millions in royalties)
