Thomas Edison Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman, who has been described as America's greatest inventor. He is credited with developing many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, which include the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and the long-lasting, practical electric light bulb, had a widespread impact on the modern industrialized world. He was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production and teamwork to the process of invention, working with many researchers and employees. He is
Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower and Museum now the Thomas Edison National Historical Park. The original Menlo Park buildings began to deteriorate, and by 1926 most of the buildings had either collapsed or burned, and the only two remaining buildings were later moved to Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. The Thomas A. Edison Memorial Tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 30, 1979 as an important architectural and commemorative landmark. The tower's pinnacle is meant to represent an incandescent light bulb and originally included an audio system that according to a 2004 Weird NJ magazine could be heard from a distance of