Thomas Edison was born on 11 February 1847 in Milan. An American inventor and businessman, Edison set up a research laboratory at Menlo Park, New Jersey, which became a model for industrial research and employed teams of assistants. He developed the phonograph in 1877 and a practical incandescent light bulb in 1879, together with a system of electric power generation and distribution. He held more than a thousand US patents, and worked on the motion-picture camera and the Kinetoscope. His companies led to General Electric. He was involved in the so-called war of the currents, promoting direct current against the alternating current favoured by George Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla.
Before and after
- 1847Publication of Il Canto degli Italiani
- 1847Publication of Wuthering Heights
- from 1847 to 1901Caste War of Yucatán
- 1847Ignaz Semmelweis shows that handwashing prevents childbed fever
- 11 February 1847Birth of Thomas Edison
- 3 March 1847Birth of Alexander Graham Bell
- 10 June 1847Launch of Chicago Tribune
- 2 October 1847Birth of Paul von Hindenburg
- 4 November 1847Death of Felix Mendelssohn
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The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.