How We Got to Now How We Got to Now How We Got to Now is a British-American factual television series that was broadcast on PBS in 2014 and BBC Two in 2015. The series was commissioned by the BBC in the United Kingdom and made by Nutopia, a British-American production company in the United States. The six-part series, presented by Steven Johnson, explores the legacy of great ideas. Episode titles for the six parts are: 1) Clean, 2) Time, 3) Glass, 4) Light, 5) Cold, and 6) Sound. The historical characters who appear include Thomas Edison, Clarence Birdseye, Frederick McKinley Jones, Willis Carrier, Tim
Thomas Edison was incorrectly listed on his birth certificate as "Edison". The small town of Alva just east of Fort Myers took Edison's middle name. In 1883, the City Hotel in Sunbury, Pennsylvania was the first building to be lit with Edison's three-wire system. The hotel was renamed The Hotel Edison upon Edison's return to the city on 1922. Lake Thomas A Edison in California was named after Edison to mark the 75th anniversary of the incandescent light bulb. Edison was on hand to turn on the lights at the Hotel Edison in New York City when it opened in 1931. Three