INVENTOR

Thomas Edison

1847 - 1931

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Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed 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 early versions of the electric light bulb, have had a widespread impact on the modern industrialized world. He was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of organized science and teamwork to the process of invention, working with many researchers and employees. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Thomas Edison is the 3rd most popular inventor, the 5th most popular biography from United States (down from 3rd in 2019) and the most popular American Inventor.

Thomas Edison is most famous for inventing the electric light bulb.

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Among INVENTORS

Among inventors, Thomas Edison ranks 3 out of 426Before him are Leonardo da Vinci, and Nikola Tesla. After him are Johannes Gutenberg, James Watt, Karl Benz, Elon Musk, Alexander Graham Bell, Guglielmo Marconi, Henry Ford, Louis Braille, and Charles Babbage.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1847, Thomas Edison ranks 1After him are Alexander Graham Bell, Paul von Hindenburg, Maria Feodorovna, Otto Wallach, Bram Stoker, Auguste Escoffier, Joseph Pulitzer, Jesse James, Duchess Sophie Charlotte in Bavaria, Georges Sorel, and Jean Casimir-Perier. Among people deceased in 1931, Thomas Edison ranks 1After him are Khalil Gibran, Albert A. Michelson, Otto Wallach, Gustave Le Bon, Anna Pavlova, Louise, Princess Royal, Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, Omar Mukhtar, Arthur Schnitzler, Lili Elbe, and Bhagat Singh.

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Thomas Edison ranks 5 out of 20,380Before him are Donald Trump (1946), Jimmy Carter (1924), Thomas Jefferson (1743), and Martin Luther King Jr. (1929). After him are J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904), Muhammad Ali (1942), Andrew Jackson (1767), Edgar Allan Poe (1809), Pope Leo XIV (1955), William McKinley (1843), and Al Pacino (1940).

Among INVENTORS In United States

Among inventors born in United States, Thomas Edison ranks 1After him are Henry Ford (1863), Samuel Morse (1791), Eli Whitney (1765), Lee de Forest (1873), Jimmy Wales (1966), Samuel Colt (1814), Bob Kahn (1938), Herman Hollerith (1860), Robert Fulton (1765), Steve Wozniak (1950), and George Westinghouse (1846).