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Born January 17, 1706
Died April 17, 1790

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Benjamin Franklin, (born January 17 [January 6, Old Style], 1706, Boston, Massachusetts [U.S.]-died April 17, 1790, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.), American printer and publisher, author, inventor and scientist, and diplomat. One of the foremost of the Founding Fathers, Franklin helped draft the Declaration of Independence and was one of its signers, represented the United States in France during the American Revolution, and was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. He made important contributions to science, especially in the understanding of electricity, and is remembered for the wit, wisdom, and elegance of his writing.

Early life

Franklin was born the 10th son of the 17 children of a man who made soap and candles, one of the lowliest of the artisan crafts. In an age that privileged the firstborn son, Franklin was, as he tartly noted in his Autobiography, "the youngest Son of the youngest Son for five Generations back." He learned to read very early and had one year in grammar school and another under a private teacher, but his formal education ended at age 10. At 12 he was apprenticed to his brother James, a printer. His mastery of the printer's trade, of which he was proud to the end of his life, was achieved between 1718 and 1723. In the same period he read tirelessly and taught himself to write effectively.

His first enthusiasm was for poetry, but, discouraged with the quality of his own, he gave it up. Prose was another matter. Young Franklin discovered a volume of The Spectator-featuring Joseph Addison and Sir Richard Steele's famous periodical essays, which had appeared in England in 1711-12-and saw in it a means for improving his writing. He read these Spectator papers over and over, copied and recopied them, and then tried to recall them from memory. He even turned them into poetry and then back into prose. Franklin realized, as all the Founders did, that writing competently was such a rare talent in the 18th century that anyone who could do it well immediately attracted attention. "Prose writing" became, as he recalled in his Autobiography, "of great Use to me in the Course of my Life, and was a principal Means of my Advancement."

In 1721 James Franklin founded a weekly newspaper, the New-England Courant, to which readers were invited to contribute. Benjamin, now 16, read and perhaps set in type these contributions and decided that he could do as well himself. In 1722 he wrote a series of 14 essays signed "Silence Dogood" in which he lampooned everything from funeral eulogies to the students of Harvard College. For one so young to assume the persona of a middle-aged woman was a remarkable feat, and Franklin took "exquisite Pleasure" in the fact that his brother and others became convinced that only a learned and ingenious wit could have written these essays.

Late in 1722 James Franklin got into trouble with the provincial authorities and was forbidden to print or publish the Courant. To keep the paper going, he discharged his younger brother from his original apprenticeship and made him the paper's nominal publisher. New indentures were drawn up but not made public. Some months later, after a bitter quarrel, Benjamin secretly left home, sure that James would not "go to law" and reveal the subterfuge he had devised.

Youthful adventures

Failing to find work in New York City, Franklin at age 17 went on to Quaker-dominated Philadelphia, a much more open and religiously tolerant place than Puritan Boston. One of the most memorable scenes of the Autobiography is the description of his arrival on a Sunday morning, tired and hungry. Finding a bakery, he asked for three pennies' worth of bread and got "three great Puffy Rolls." Carrying one under each arm and munching on the third, he walked up Market Street past the door of the Read family, where stood Deborah, his future wife. She saw him and "thought I made, as I certainly did, a most awkward ridiculous Appearance."

A few weeks later he was rooming at the Reads' and employed as a printer. By the spring of 1724 he was enjoying the companionship of other young men with a taste for reading, and he was also being urged to set up in business for himself by the governor of Pennsylvania, Sir William Keith. At Keith's suggestion, Franklin returned to Boston to try to raise the necessary capital. His father thought him too young for such a venture, so Keith offered to foot the bill himself and arranged Franklin's passage to England so that he could choose his type and make connections with London stationers and booksellers. Franklin exchanged "some promises" about marriage with Deborah Read and, with a young friend, James Ralph, as his companion, sailed for London in November 1724, just over a year after arriving in Philadelphia. Not until his ship was well out at sea did he realize that Governor Keith had not delivered the letters of credit and introduction he had promised.

In London Franklin quickly found employment in his trade and was able to lend money to Ralph, who was trying to establish himself as a writer. The two young men enjoyed the theatre and the other pleasures of the city, including women. While in London, Franklin wrote A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain (1725), a Deistical pamphlet inspired by his having set type for William Wollaston's moral tract, The Religion of Nature Delineated. Franklin argued in his essay that since human beings have no real freedom of choice, they are not morally responsible for their actions. This was perhaps a nice justification for his self-indulgent behaviour in London and his ignoring of Deborah, to whom he had written only once. He later repudiated the pamphlet, burning all but one of the copies still in his possession.

By 1726 Franklin was tiring of London. He considered becoming an itinerant teacher of swimming, but, when Thomas Denham, a Quaker merchant, offered him a clerkship in his store in Philadelphia with a prospect of fat commissions in the West Indian trade, he decided to return home.

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Benjamin Franklin | Biography, Inventions, Books, American Revolution, & Facts

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Benjamin Franklin, American printer and publisher, author, inventor and scientist, and diplomat. One of the foremost of the American Founding Fathers, he helped draft the Declaration of Independence. He also made important contributions to science, especially in the understanding of technology.

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Franklin was the 10th of 17 children. He started to read at an early age of his life and had on year in grammar school. He taught himself how to write efficiently.

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Benjamin Franklin, (born January 17 [January 6, Old Style], 1706, Boston, Massachusetts [U.S.]-died April 17, 1790, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.), American printer and publisher, author, inventor and scientist, and diplomat. One of the foremost of the Founding Fathers, Franklin helped draft the Declaration of Independence and was one of its signers, represented the United States in France during the American Revolution, and was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. He made important contributions to science, especially in the understanding of electricity, and is remembered for the wit, wisdom, and elegance of his writing.

Early life

Franklin was born the 10th son of the 17 children of a man who made soap and candles, one of the lowliest of the artisan crafts. In an age that privileged the firstborn son, Franklin was, as he tartly noted in his Autobiography, "the youngest Son of the youngest Son for five Generations back." He learned to read very early and had one year in grammar school and another under a private teacher, but his formal education ended at age 10. At 12 he was apprenticed to his brother James, a printer. His mastery of the printer's trade, of which he was proud to the end of his life, was achieved between 1718 and 1723. In the same period he read tirelessly and taught himself to write effectively.

His first enthusiasm was for poetry, but, discouraged with the quality of his own, he gave it up. Prose was another matter. Young Franklin discovered a volume of The Spectator-featuring Joseph Addison and Sir Richard Steele's famous periodical essays, which had appeared in England in 1711-12-and saw in it a means for improving his writing. He read these Spectator papers over and over, copied and recopied them, and then tried to recall them from memory. He even turned them into poetry and then back into prose. Franklin realized, as all the Founders did, that writing competently was such a rare talent in the 18th century that anyone who could do it well immediately attracted attention. "Prose writing" became, as he recalled in his Autobiography, "of great Use to me in the Course of my Life, and was a principal Means of my Advancement."

In 1721 James Franklin founded a weekly newspaper, the New-England Courant, to which readers were invited to contribute. Benjamin, now 16, read and perhaps set in type these contributions and decided that he could do as well himself. In 1722 he wrote a series of 14 essays signed "Silence Dogood" in which he lampooned everything from funeral eulogies to the students of Harvard College. For one so young to assume the persona of a middle-aged woman was a remarkable feat, and Franklin took "exquisite Pleasure" in the fact that his brother and others became convinced that only a learned and ingenious wit could have written these essays.

Late in 1722 James Franklin got into trouble with the provincial authorities and was forbidden to print or publish the Courant. To keep the paper going, he discharged his younger brother from his original apprenticeship and made him the paper's nominal publisher. New indentures were drawn up but not made public. Some months later, after a bitter quarrel, Benjamin secretly left home, sure that James would not "go to law" and reveal the subterfuge he had devised.

Youthful adventures

Failing to find work in New York City, Franklin at age 17 went on to Quaker-dominated Philadelphia, a much more open and religiously tolerant place than Puritan Boston. One of the most memorable scenes of the Autobiography is the description of his arrival on a Sunday morning, tired and hungry. Finding a bakery, he asked for three pennies' worth of bread and got "three great Puffy Rolls." Carrying one under each arm and munching on the third, he walked up Market Street past the door of the Read family, where stood Deborah, his future wife. She saw him and "thought I made, as I certainly did, a most awkward ridiculous Appearance."

A few weeks later he was rooming at the Reads' and employed as a printer. By the spring of 1724 he was enjoying the companionship of other young men with a taste for reading, and he was also being urged to set up in business for himself by the governor of Pennsylvania, Sir William Keith. At Keith's suggestion, Franklin returned to Boston to try to raise the necessary capital. His father thought him too young for such a venture, so Keith offered to foot the bill himself and arranged Franklin's passage to England so that he could choose his type and make connections with London stationers and booksellers. Franklin exchanged "some promises" about marriage with Deborah Read and, with a young friend, James Ralph, as his companion, sailed for London in November 1724, just over a year after arriving in Philadelphia. Not until his ship was well out at sea did he realize that Governor Keith had not delivered the letters of credit and introduction he had promised.

In London Franklin quickly found employment in his trade and was able to lend money to Ralph, who was trying to establish himself as a writer. The two young men enjoyed the theatre and the other pleasures of the city, including women. While in London, Franklin wrote A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain (1725), a Deistical pamphlet inspired by his having set type for William Wollaston's moral tract, The Religion of Nature Delineated. Franklin argued in his essay that since human beings have no real freedom of choice, they are not morally responsible for their actions. This was perhaps a nice justification for his self-indulgent behaviour in London and his ignoring of Deborah, to whom he had written only once. He later repudiated the pamphlet, burning all but one of the copies still in his possession.

By 1726 Franklin was tiring of London. He considered becoming an itinerant teacher of swimming, but, when Thomas Denham, a Quaker merchant, offered him a clerkship in his store in Philadelphia with a prospect of fat commissions in the West Indian trade, he decided to return home.

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Benjamin Franklin | Biography, Inventions, Books, American Revolution, & Facts

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Benjamin Franklin, American printer and publisher, author, inventor and scientist, and diplomat. One of the foremost of the American Founding Fathers, he helped draft the Declaration of Independence. He also made important contributions to science, especially in the understanding of technology.

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In 1753 Benjamin Franklin got awarded the Copley gold medal. Today that is equivalent to a Nobel Prize

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Benjamin Franklin . World of Influence . Celebrity | PBS

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Ben Franklin was America's first international celebrity. His groundbreaking discoveries in the science of electricity in the late 1740's and early 1750's catapulted him from obscure scientific amateur to status as the most famous American in the world. Franklin's fame thrust him onto an international stage and made possible his pivotal role in the American Revolution.

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Born February 11, 1847
Died October 18, 1931

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Thomas Edison (born February 11, 1847, Milan, Ohio, U.S.-died October 18, 1931, West Orange, New Jersey) American inventor who, singly or jointly, held a world-record 1,093 patents. In addition, he created the world's first industrial research laboratory.

Edison was the quintessential American inventor in the era of Yankee ingenuity. He began his career in 1863, in the adolescence of the telegraph industry, when virtually the only source of electricity was primitive batteries putting out a low-voltage current. Before he died, in 1931, he had played a critical role in introducing the modern age of electricity. From his laboratories and workshops emanated the phonograph, the carbon-button transmitter for the telephone speaker and microphone, the incandescent lamp, a revolutionary generator of unprecedented efficiency, the first commercial electric light and power system, an experimental electric railroad, and key elements of motion-picture apparatus, as well as a host of other inventions.

Edison was the seventh and last child-the fourth surviving-of Samuel Edison, Jr., and Nancy Elliot Edison. At an early age he developed hearing problems, which have been variously attributed but were most likely due to a familial tendency to mastoiditis. Whatever the cause, Edison's deafness strongly influenced his behaviour and career, providing the motivation for many of his inventions.

Early years

In 1854 Samuel Edison became the lighthouse keeper and carpenter on the Fort Gratiot military post near Port Huron, Michigan, where the family lived in a substantial home. Alva, as the inventor was known until his second marriage, entered school there and attended sporadically for five years. He was imaginative and inquisitive, but, because much instruction was by rote and he had difficulty hearing, he was bored and was labeled a misfit. To compensate, he became an avid and omnivorous reader. Edison's lack of formal schooling was not unusual. At the time of the Civil War the average American had attended school a total of 434 days-little more than two years' schooling by today's standards.

In 1859 Edison quit school and began working as a trainboy on the railroad between Detroit and Port Huron. Four years earlier, the Michigan Central had initiated the commercial application of the telegraph by using it to control the movement of its trains, and the Civil War brought a vast expansion of transportation and communication. Edison took advantage of the opportunity to learn telegraphy and in 1863 became an apprentice telegrapher.

Messages received on the initial Morse telegraph were inscribed as a series of dots and dashes on a strip of paper that was decoded and read, so Edison's partial deafness was no handicap. Receivers were increasingly being equipped with a sounding key, however, enabling telegraphers to "read" messages by the clicks. The transformation of telegraphy to an auditory art left Edison more and more disadvantaged during his six-year career as an itinerant telegrapher in the Midwest, the South, Canada, and New England. Amply supplied with ingenuity and insight, he devoted much of his energy toward improving the inchoate equipment and inventing devices to facilitate some of the tasks that his physical limitations made difficult. By January 1869 he had made enough progress with a duplex telegraph (a device capable of transmitting two messages simultaneously on one wire) and a printer, which converted electrical signals to letters, that he abandoned telegraphy for full-time invention and entrepreneurship.

Edison moved to New York City, where he initially went into partnership with Frank L. Pope, a noted electrical expert, to produce the Edison Universal Stock Printer and other printing telegraphs. Between 1870 and 1875 he worked out of Newark, New Jersey, and was involved in a variety of partnerships and complex transactions in the fiercely competitive and convoluted telegraph industry, which was dominated by the Western Union Telegraph Company. As an independent entrepreneur he was available to the highest bidder and played both sides against the middle. During this period he worked on improving an automatic telegraph system for Western Union's rivals. The automatic telegraph, which recorded messages by means of a chemical reaction engendered by the electrical transmissions, proved of limited commercial success, but the work advanced Edison's knowledge of chemistry and laid the basis for his development of the electric pen and mimeograph, both important devices in the early office machine industry, and indirectly led to the discovery of the phonograph. Under the aegis of Western Union he devised the quadruplex, capable of transmitting four messages simultaneously over one wire, but railroad baron and Wall Street financier Jay Gould, Western Union's bitter rival, snatched the quadruplex from the telegraph company's grasp in December 1874 by paying Edison more than $100,000 in cash, bonds, and stock, one of the larger payments for any invention up to that time. Years of litigation followed.

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Thomas Edison | Biography, Early Life, Inventions, & Facts

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Thomas Edison, the prolific American inventor and entrepreneur, revolutionized the world with his inventions such as the phonograph and practical electric lighting systems, forever changing our way of life.

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He became a lighthouse keeper and carpenter in 1854. His family lived near in an substantial home.

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Thomas Edison (born February 11, 1847, Milan, Ohio, U.S.-died October 18, 1931, West Orange, New Jersey) American inventor who, singly or jointly, held a world-record 1,093 patents. In addition, he created the world's first industrial research laboratory.

Edison was the quintessential American inventor in the era of Yankee ingenuity. He began his career in 1863, in the adolescence of the telegraph industry, when virtually the only source of electricity was primitive batteries putting out a low-voltage current. Before he died, in 1931, he had played a critical role in introducing the modern age of electricity. From his laboratories and workshops emanated the phonograph, the carbon-button transmitter for the telephone speaker and microphone, the incandescent lamp, a revolutionary generator of unprecedented efficiency, the first commercial electric light and power system, an experimental electric railroad, and key elements of motion-picture apparatus, as well as a host of other inventions.

Edison was the seventh and last child-the fourth surviving-of Samuel Edison, Jr., and Nancy Elliot Edison. At an early age he developed hearing problems, which have been variously attributed but were most likely due to a familial tendency to mastoiditis. Whatever the cause, Edison's deafness strongly influenced his behaviour and career, providing the motivation for many of his inventions.

Early years

In 1854 Samuel Edison became the lighthouse keeper and carpenter on the Fort Gratiot military post near Port Huron, Michigan, where the family lived in a substantial home. Alva, as the inventor was known until his second marriage, entered school there and attended sporadically for five years. He was imaginative and inquisitive, but, because much instruction was by rote and he had difficulty hearing, he was bored and was labeled a misfit. To compensate, he became an avid and omnivorous reader. Edison's lack of formal schooling was not unusual. At the time of the Civil War the average American had attended school a total of 434 days-little more than two years' schooling by today's standards.

In 1859 Edison quit school and began working as a trainboy on the railroad between Detroit and Port Huron. Four years earlier, the Michigan Central had initiated the commercial application of the telegraph by using it to control the movement of its trains, and the Civil War brought a vast expansion of transportation and communication. Edison took advantage of the opportunity to learn telegraphy and in 1863 became an apprentice telegrapher.

Messages received on the initial Morse telegraph were inscribed as a series of dots and dashes on a strip of paper that was decoded and read, so Edison's partial deafness was no handicap. Receivers were increasingly being equipped with a sounding key, however, enabling telegraphers to "read" messages by the clicks. The transformation of telegraphy to an auditory art left Edison more and more disadvantaged during his six-year career as an itinerant telegrapher in the Midwest, the South, Canada, and New England. Amply supplied with ingenuity and insight, he devoted much of his energy toward improving the inchoate equipment and inventing devices to facilitate some of the tasks that his physical limitations made difficult. By January 1869 he had made enough progress with a duplex telegraph (a device capable of transmitting two messages simultaneously on one wire) and a printer, which converted electrical signals to letters, that he abandoned telegraphy for full-time invention and entrepreneurship.

Edison moved to New York City, where he initially went into partnership with Frank L. Pope, a noted electrical expert, to produce the Edison Universal Stock Printer and other printing telegraphs. Between 1870 and 1875 he worked out of Newark, New Jersey, and was involved in a variety of partnerships and complex transactions in the fiercely competitive and convoluted telegraph industry, which was dominated by the Western Union Telegraph Company. As an independent entrepreneur he was available to the highest bidder and played both sides against the middle. During this period he worked on improving an automatic telegraph system for Western Union's rivals. The automatic telegraph, which recorded messages by means of a chemical reaction engendered by the electrical transmissions, proved of limited commercial success, but the work advanced Edison's knowledge of chemistry and laid the basis for his development of the electric pen and mimeograph, both important devices in the early office machine industry, and indirectly led to the discovery of the phonograph. Under the aegis of Western Union he devised the quadruplex, capable of transmitting four messages simultaneously over one wire, but railroad baron and Wall Street financier Jay Gould, Western Union's bitter rival, snatched the quadruplex from the telegraph company's grasp in December 1874 by paying Edison more than $100,000 in cash, bonds, and stock, one of the larger payments for any invention up to that time. Years of litigation followed.

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Thomas Edison | Biography, Early Life, Inventions, & Facts

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Thomas Edison, the prolific American inventor and entrepreneur, revolutionized the world with his inventions such as the phonograph and practical electric lighting systems, forever changing our way of life.

# data[].attributes.body
He made a lightning rod to protect peoples houses from lightning.

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Edison was awarded the congressional gold medal on may 21, 1928

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Amid little controversy, on this day in 1928, the House voted to award Thomas Edison, one of the nation's foremost inventors, a Congressional Gold Medal.

In early April, Rep. Randolph Perkins (R-N.J.), chairman of the Committee on Coinage, Weights and Measures, had reported the bill to the House. The report included a letter from Andrew Mellon, secretary of the treasury, lamenting the lack of domestic recognition for Edison's work, in contrast to the outpouring of international acclaim.

Story Continued Below

"Wearing in the lapel of his coat the ribbon of the Legion of Honor of France, symbolized and honored by eight other foreign nations, the recipient of degrees from 22 colleges," Mellon noted, "Mr. Edison has yet to receive a medal at the hands of the United States."

When the bill came up for a vote, the sole objection came from Rep. Fiorello La Guardia (R-N.Y.) who sought to remove a boilerplate section of the legislation that authorized the Treasury to mint replica coins for sale to the public to defray the cost of Edison's medal. The House agreed to La Guardia's modification.

Eight days later, President Calvin Coolidge signed the legislation. Mellon duly awarded the medal to Edison on Oct. 20, 1928, in his laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, while Coolidge spoke via a radio link from the White House. Nearly 50 radio stations broadcast the ceremony.

Edison died on Oct. 18, 1931 at age 84. His inventions include the phonograph, motion picture camera and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. He was one of the first experimenters to apply the principles of mass production and large-scale teamwork to the process of invention.

Now, Congressional Gold Medal ceremonies typically are held in the Capitol Rotunda, and presidents have been known to personally bestow the medal on behalf of Congress.

SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE HOUSE HISTORIAN AND CLERK OF THE HOUSE OFFICE OF ART AND ARCHIVES

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Thomas Edison awarded Congressional Gold Medal, May 21, 1928

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Amid little controversy, on this day in 1928, the House voted to award Thomas Edison, one of the nation's foremost inventors, a Congressional Gold Medal. In early April, Rep. Randolph Perkins (R-N.J.), chairman of the Committee on Coinage, Weights and Measures, had reported the bill to the House.

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Thomas Edison created the light bulb to give light inside houses

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Born March 3, 1847
Died August 2, 1922

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Alexander Graham Bell | Biography, Education, Telephone, Inventions, & Facts

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Alexander Graham Bell, (born March 3, 1847, Edinburgh, Scotland—died August 2, 1922, Beinn Bhreagh, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada), Scottish-born American inventor, scientist, and teacher of the deaf whose foremost accomplishments were the invention of the telephone (1876) and the refinem…

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Bell's mother was almost deaf and his father taught elocution to the deaf

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Alexander Graham Bell | Biography, Education, Telephone, Inventions, & Facts

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Alexander Graham Bell, (born March 3, 1847, Edinburgh, Scotland—died August 2, 1922, Beinn Bhreagh, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada), Scottish-born American inventor, scientist, and teacher of the deaf whose foremost accomplishments were the invention of the telephone (1876) and the refinem…

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He invented the telegraph.

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Born March 14, 1879
Death April 18, 1955

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Childhood and education

Einstein's parents were secular, middle-class Jews. His father, Hermann Einstein, was originally a featherbed salesman and later ran an electrochemical factory with moderate success. His mother, the former Pauline Koch, ran the family household. He had one sister, Maria (who went by the name Maja), born two years after Albert.

Einstein would write that two "wonders" deeply affected his early years. The first was his encounter with a compass at age five. He was mystified that invisible forces could deflect the needle. This would lead to a lifelong fascination with invisible forces. The second wonder came at age 12 when he discovered a book of geometry, which he devoured, calling it his "sacred little geometry book."

Einstein became deeply religious at age 12, even composing several songs in praise of God and chanting religious songs on the way to school. This began to change, however, after he read science books that contradicted his religious beliefs. This challenge to established authority left a deep and lasting impression. At the Luitpold Gymnasium, Einstein often felt out of place and victimized by a Prussian-style educational system that seemed to stifle originality and creativity. One teacher even told him that he would never amount to anything.

Yet another important influence on Einstein was a young medical student, Max Talmud (later Max Talmey), who often had dinner at the Einstein home. Talmud became an informal tutor, introducing Einstein to higher mathematics and philosophy. A pivotal turning point occurred when Einstein was 16 years old. Talmud had earlier introduced him to a children's science series by Aaron Bernstein, Naturwissenschaftliche Volksbucher (1867-68; Popular Books on Physical Science), in which the author imagined riding alongside electricity that was traveling inside a telegraph wire. Einstein then asked himself the question that would dominate his thinking for the next 10 years: What would a light beam look like if you could run alongside it? If light were a wave, then the light beam should appear stationary, like a frozen wave. Even as a child, though, he knew that stationary light waves had never been seen, so there was a paradox. Einstein also wrote his first "scientific paper" at that time ("The Investigation of the State of Aether in Magnetic Fields").

Einstein's education was disrupted by his father's repeated failures at business. In 1894, after his company failed to get an important contract to electrify the city of Munich, Hermann Einstein moved to Milan to work with a relative. Einstein was left at a boardinghouse in Munich and expected to finish his education. Alone, miserable, and repelled by the looming prospect of military duty when he turned 16, Einstein ran away six months later and landed on the doorstep of his surprised parents. His parents realized the enormous problems that he faced as a school dropout and draft dodger with no employable skills. His prospects did not look promising.

Fortunately, Einstein could apply directly to the Eidgenössische Polytechnische Schule ("Swiss Federal Polytechnic School"; in 1911, following expansion in 1909 to full university status, it was renamed the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, or "Swiss Federal Institute of Technology") in Zürich without the equivalent of a high school diploma if he passed its stiff entrance examinations. His marks showed that he excelled in mathematics and physics, but he failed at French, chemistry, and biology. Because of his exceptional math scores, he was allowed into the polytechnic on the condition that he first finish his formal schooling. He went to a special high school run by Jost Winteler in Aarau, Switzerland, and graduated in 1896. He also renounced his German citizenship at that time. (He was stateless until 1901, when he was granted Swiss citizenship.) He became lifelong friends with the Winteler family, with whom he had been boarding. (Winteler's daughter, Marie, was Einstein's first love; Einstein's sister, Maja, would eventually marry Winteler's son Paul; and his close friend Michele Besso would marry their eldest daughter, Anna.)

Einstein would recall that his years in Zürich were some of the happiest years of his life. He met many students who would become loyal friends, such as Marcel Grossmann, a mathematician, and Besso, with whom he enjoyed lengthy conversations about space and time. He also met his future wife, Mileva Maric, a fellow physics student from Serbia.

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Albert Einstein | Biography, Education, Discoveries, & Facts

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Albert Einstein, the brilliant physicist and Nobel laureate, revolutionized our understanding of the universe with his theory of relativity and became a symbol of genius that continues to inspire minds worldwide.

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Albert had secular, middle class jew parents. His father was a feather bead sales man. His mom ran the household.

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Childhood and education

Einstein's parents were secular, middle-class Jews. His father, Hermann Einstein, was originally a featherbed salesman and later ran an electrochemical factory with moderate success. His mother, the former Pauline Koch, ran the family household. He had one sister, Maria (who went by the name Maja), born two years after Albert.

Einstein would write that two "wonders" deeply affected his early years. The first was his encounter with a compass at age five. He was mystified that invisible forces could deflect the needle. This would lead to a lifelong fascination with invisible forces. The second wonder came at age 12 when he discovered a book of geometry, which he devoured, calling it his "sacred little geometry book."

Einstein became deeply religious at age 12, even composing several songs in praise of God and chanting religious songs on the way to school. This began to change, however, after he read science books that contradicted his religious beliefs. This challenge to established authority left a deep and lasting impression. At the Luitpold Gymnasium, Einstein often felt out of place and victimized by a Prussian-style educational system that seemed to stifle originality and creativity. One teacher even told him that he would never amount to anything.

Yet another important influence on Einstein was a young medical student, Max Talmud (later Max Talmey), who often had dinner at the Einstein home. Talmud became an informal tutor, introducing Einstein to higher mathematics and philosophy. A pivotal turning point occurred when Einstein was 16 years old. Talmud had earlier introduced him to a children's science series by Aaron Bernstein, Naturwissenschaftliche Volksbucher (1867-68; Popular Books on Physical Science), in which the author imagined riding alongside electricity that was traveling inside a telegraph wire. Einstein then asked himself the question that would dominate his thinking for the next 10 years: What would a light beam look like if you could run alongside it? If light were a wave, then the light beam should appear stationary, like a frozen wave. Even as a child, though, he knew that stationary light waves had never been seen, so there was a paradox. Einstein also wrote his first "scientific paper" at that time ("The Investigation of the State of Aether in Magnetic Fields").

Einstein's education was disrupted by his father's repeated failures at business. In 1894, after his company failed to get an important contract to electrify the city of Munich, Hermann Einstein moved to Milan to work with a relative. Einstein was left at a boardinghouse in Munich and expected to finish his education. Alone, miserable, and repelled by the looming prospect of military duty when he turned 16, Einstein ran away six months later and landed on the doorstep of his surprised parents. His parents realized the enormous problems that he faced as a school dropout and draft dodger with no employable skills. His prospects did not look promising.

Fortunately, Einstein could apply directly to the Eidgenössische Polytechnische Schule ("Swiss Federal Polytechnic School"; in 1911, following expansion in 1909 to full university status, it was renamed the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, or "Swiss Federal Institute of Technology") in Zürich without the equivalent of a high school diploma if he passed its stiff entrance examinations. His marks showed that he excelled in mathematics and physics, but he failed at French, chemistry, and biology. Because of his exceptional math scores, he was allowed into the polytechnic on the condition that he first finish his formal schooling. He went to a special high school run by Jost Winteler in Aarau, Switzerland, and graduated in 1896. He also renounced his German citizenship at that time. (He was stateless until 1901, when he was granted Swiss citizenship.) He became lifelong friends with the Winteler family, with whom he had been boarding. (Winteler's daughter, Marie, was Einstein's first love; Einstein's sister, Maja, would eventually marry Winteler's son Paul; and his close friend Michele Besso would marry their eldest daughter, Anna.)

Einstein would recall that his years in Zürich were some of the happiest years of his life. He met many students who would become loyal friends, such as Marcel Grossmann, a mathematician, and Besso, with whom he enjoyed lengthy conversations about space and time. He also met his future wife, Mileva Maric, a fellow physics student from Serbia.

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Albert Einstein | Biography, Education, Discoveries, & Facts

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Albert Einstein, the brilliant physicist and Nobel laureate, revolutionized our understanding of the universe with his theory of relativity and became a symbol of genius that continues to inspire minds worldwide.

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Albert Einstein helped build the atom bomb

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Born December 26, 1928
June 26, 1976

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Martin Cooper, byname Marty Cooper, (born December 26, 1928, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.), American engineer who led the team that in 1972-73 built the first mobile cell phone and made the first cell phone call. He is widely regarded as the father of the cellular phone.

Cooper graduated from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering (1950). He joined the U.S. Navy and served during the Korean War. After the war, he joined the Teletype Corporation, and in 1954 he began working at Motorola. He earned a master's in electrical engineering from IIT (1957). At Motorola, Cooper worked on many projects involving wireless communications, such as the first radio-controlled traffic-light system, which he patented in 1960, and the first handheld police radios, which were introduced in 1967. He later served as a vice president and director of research and development (1978-83) for the company.

Mobile telephones had been introduced by the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1946. However, in a given area only 11 or 12 channels were available, so users often had to wait to use the system. Another weakness of the first mobile phones was that the large amount of power needed to run them could be supplied only by car batteries. Thus, there were no truly portable phones but only car phones.

In 1947 AT&T Bell Laboratories engineers W. Rae Young and Douglas H. Ring showed that more mobile users could be added by breaking down a large area into many smaller cells, but that required more frequency coverage than was then available. However, in 1968 the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) asked AT&T for a plan for employing a little-used portion of the UHF (ultrahigh frequency) television band. AT&T proposed a cellular architecture to expand its car-phone service.

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Motorola did not want AT&T to have a monopoly on cell phones and feared the end of its mobile business. Cooper was placed in charge of the urgent project to develop a cell phone. He thought that the cell phone should not be chained to the car but should be portable. The result, the DynaTAC (Dynamic Adaptive Total Area Coverage) phone, was 23 cm (9 inches) tall and weighed 1.1 kg (2.5 pounds). It allowed 35 minutes of talk before its battery ran down.

On April 3, 1973, Cooper introduced the DynaTAC phone at a press conference in New York City. To make sure that it worked before the press conference, he placed the first public cell phone call, to engineer Joel Engel, head of AT&T's rival project, and gloated that he was calling from a portable cellular phone.

In 1983, after years of further development, Motorola introduced the first portable cell phone for consumers, the DynaTAC 8000x. Despite its price of $3,995, the phone was a success. That same year, Cooper left Motorola and founded Cellular Business Systems, Inc. (CBSI), which became the leading company in billing cellular phone services. In 1986 he and his partners sold CBSI to Cincinnati Bell for $23 million, and he and his wife, Arlene Harris, founded Dyna, LLC. Dyna served as a central organization from which they launched other companies, such as ArrayComm (1996), which developed software for wireless systems, and GreatCall (2006), which provided wireless service for the Jitterbug, a cell phone with simple features meant for the elderly. Cooper received the Charles Stark Draper Prize from the National Academy of Engineering in 2013.

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Martin Cooper | Biography, Inventions, & Facts

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Martin Cooper, American engineer who led the team that in 1972-73 built the first mobile cell phone, the DynaTAC (Dynamic Adaptive Total Area Coverage), and made the first cell phone call, on April 3, 1973. He is widely regarded as the father of the cellular phone.

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Cooper graduated from Illinois institute of technology. He got a bachelors degree in electrical engineering.

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Martin Cooper, byname Marty Cooper, (born December 26, 1928, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.), American engineer who led the team that in 1972-73 built the first mobile cell phone and made the first cell phone call. He is widely regarded as the father of the cellular phone.

Cooper graduated from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering (1950). He joined the U.S. Navy and served during the Korean War. After the war, he joined the Teletype Corporation, and in 1954 he began working at Motorola. He earned a master's in electrical engineering from IIT (1957). At Motorola, Cooper worked on many projects involving wireless communications, such as the first radio-controlled traffic-light system, which he patented in 1960, and the first handheld police radios, which were introduced in 1967. He later served as a vice president and director of research and development (1978-83) for the company.

Mobile telephones had been introduced by the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1946. However, in a given area only 11 or 12 channels were available, so users often had to wait to use the system. Another weakness of the first mobile phones was that the large amount of power needed to run them could be supplied only by car batteries. Thus, there were no truly portable phones but only car phones.

In 1947 AT&T Bell Laboratories engineers W. Rae Young and Douglas H. Ring showed that more mobile users could be added by breaking down a large area into many smaller cells, but that required more frequency coverage than was then available. However, in 1968 the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) asked AT&T for a plan for employing a little-used portion of the UHF (ultrahigh frequency) television band. AT&T proposed a cellular architecture to expand its car-phone service.

Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. Subscribe today

Motorola did not want AT&T to have a monopoly on cell phones and feared the end of its mobile business. Cooper was placed in charge of the urgent project to develop a cell phone. He thought that the cell phone should not be chained to the car but should be portable. The result, the DynaTAC (Dynamic Adaptive Total Area Coverage) phone, was 23 cm (9 inches) tall and weighed 1.1 kg (2.5 pounds). It allowed 35 minutes of talk before its battery ran down.

On April 3, 1973, Cooper introduced the DynaTAC phone at a press conference in New York City. To make sure that it worked before the press conference, he placed the first public cell phone call, to engineer Joel Engel, head of AT&T's rival project, and gloated that he was calling from a portable cellular phone.

In 1983, after years of further development, Motorola introduced the first portable cell phone for consumers, the DynaTAC 8000x. Despite its price of $3,995, the phone was a success. That same year, Cooper left Motorola and founded Cellular Business Systems, Inc. (CBSI), which became the leading company in billing cellular phone services. In 1986 he and his partners sold CBSI to Cincinnati Bell for $23 million, and he and his wife, Arlene Harris, founded Dyna, LLC. Dyna served as a central organization from which they launched other companies, such as ArrayComm (1996), which developed software for wireless systems, and GreatCall (2006), which provided wireless service for the Jitterbug, a cell phone with simple features meant for the elderly. Cooper received the Charles Stark Draper Prize from the National Academy of Engineering in 2013.

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Martin Cooper | Biography, Inventions, & Facts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Martin Cooper, American engineer who led the team that in 1972-73 built the first mobile cell phone, the DynaTAC (Dynamic Adaptive Total Area Coverage), and made the first cell phone call, on April 3, 1973. He is widely regarded as the father of the cellular phone.

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Martin cooper created the telephone.