Thomas E. Murray Thomas E. Murray Thomas E. Murray (October 21, 1860 – July 21, 1929) was an American inventor and businessman who developed electric power plants for New York City as well as many electrical devices which influenced life around the world, including the dimmer switch and screw-in fuse. It has been said that he "invented everything from the power plant up to the light bulb". Murray is considered one of the most prolific inventors in history after Thomas Edison, holding 462 U.S. patents in his name. However, unlike Edison, Murray did not patent the work of others under his name; the
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