Thomas Edison had created the first industrial laboratory concerned with creating knowledge and then controlling its application. Edison's name is registered on 1,093 patents. Edison began his career as an inventor in Newark, New Jersey, with the automatic repeater and his other improved telegraphic devices, but the invention that first gained him wider notice was the phonograph in 1877. This accomplishment was so unexpected by the public at large as to appear almost magical. Edison became known as "The Wizard of Menlo Park," New Jersey. His first phonograph recorded on tinfoil around a grooved cylinder. Despite its limited sound quality and that
Menlo College called Brawner Hall, holds most of the business courses at Menlo. That same year, Menlo completed construction of its largest college dormitory, holding 150 students. President William E. Kratt retired in 1970, and in 1971 the dormitory was dedicated to him. William E. Kratt Hall currently serves as the primary housing facility for freshman students. Richard F. O'Brien succeeded Kratt as President of Menlo. In the fall of 1971, Menlo became a co-educational institution and admitted its first female students. The institution initiated its first major fund-raising campaign in 1976. The “Campaign for Menlo” set a $5 million goal to