The Creative Entrepreneur - Thomas Edison - April 2025

The Creative Entrepreneur - Thomas Edison - April 2025

Apr, 1 2025


If it wasn’t for one man many things we take for granted in the modern world wouldn’t exist. The focus for this month’s ‘Creative Entrepreneur’ helps us appreciate the marvellous skills set during which Thomas Alva Edison was the main inventor and businessman behind such fields for example, electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording and motion pictures.

Let us discover more in this mini bio –

In his youth he was self-motivated to keep learning especially when it came to technology where he would spend several hours developing home experiments. At just 12 years of age he suffered hearing problems to the point of loss of hearing which actually worked in his favour because he was convinced he could concentrate better on his work load without noise distractions. Modern- day historians and medical professionals have suggested he may have had ADHD.

Now in the adult world, Edison was a working man whose early interest in technology gave him the knowledge and confidence to take it forward and shape his career. He started out 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. His wizardry inventions were something of a marvel at the time particularly for the local public notice.

In the time since the phonograph was conspired Edison had worked his magic on electricity and so by 1878 he formed the Edison Electric Light Company in New York City with several financiers, including J.P. Morgan, Spencer Trask and the members  of the Vanderbilt family. Edison made the first public demonstration of his incandescent light bulb on December 31, 1879, in Menlo Park. It was during this time that he said: "We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles."

Years had passed during which he continued to develop his inventions and also experienced heartache with the death of his wife. Yet he still felt the need to create, and so he worked his skills on the kinetoscope. Devised in 1891 this was a peep – hole viewer installed in penny arcades where people could watch short, simple films. Both the kinetograph and the kinetoscope were first publicly exhibited May 20th 1891.

Several years later his film studio made almost 1,200 films. These ranged from –

  • Fred Ott’s Sneeze (1894)
  • The Kiss (1896)
  • The Great Train Robbery ( 1903)
  • Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1910)
  • The first Frankenstein film ( 1910)

In the aftermath of his death he has been fondly remembered in popular culture as a character in novels, films, television shows, comics and video games. His prolific inventing helped make him an icon, and he has made appearances in popular culture during his lifetime down to the present day. Edison is also portrayed in popular culture as an adversary of Nikola Tesla.

You can discover more about this intrepid creative entrepreneur at the London Science Museum. Simply click on the link below and scroll down till you find information about Thomas Edison -

https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/everyday-wonders/electric-lighting-home

The modern world has technology seeping through every person’s hand be it an electronic tablet or smart phone. But rewind a couple of centuries and you see the very origin of electricity thanks to one man Thomas Edison. Although the world has evolved since the 19th century we wouldn’t be where we are today without the pioneering efforts of Edison. Due, in part to his early interest in technology as a youth he was able to confidently pull off an adult career in this field and make a profitable work at it to. The next time you send a text message or do a video call, remember that one man started this whole electricity concept off and we are seriously forever grateful.

^Alex Ashworth CCG UK Blogger