England was the leading European colonial power and had already established much of its overseas empire by the beginning of the 19th century. France was second, with its holdings in Southeast Asia and in North Africa, both. of these being established during the 19th century.
Thomas Edison married Mary Stilwell on December 25, 1871 (he was 24, she was 16).   She died on August 9, 1884.   He was married a second time, on February 24, 1886, at â¦the age of 39. His second wife's name was Mina Miller.
Thomas Edison was born in 1847 in Milan, Ohio. Like Ben Franklin, he was both a scientist and an inventor. In fact, Edison patented 1,093 inventions in his lifetime including the kinetoscope, the phonograph, and his most famous - the incandescent light bulb. The Menlo Laboratory in Newark, New Jersey, was to become the first research and development lab in the world. Edison called this lab his invention factory.. In 1879, after 1,200 experiments, Edison made a light bulb using carbonized filaments from cotton that burned for two days.