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Learn about Thomas Edison's biography. He invented many useful items including the practical light bulb and phonograph. He also helped to found the business General Electric.

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Do you love your cell phone? How about movies or your digital camera? Thomas Edison invented early versions of these modern marvels. He also invented the electric light bulb. Imagine how different life was before his inventions. The only way families could communicate with each other was through letters, which could take weeks or even months to arrive. For light, people used candles or oil lamps, which were smoky and messy.

Edison's inventions and improvements on already invented equipment let people live more comfortably. His inventions provided entertainment. The telegraph let people send messages quickly. In war time or emergencies, telegraphs saved lives. When the Titanic sunk in the Atlantic Ocean, a telegraph alerted rescuers to the disaster. But Edison wasn't always a brilliant inventor.

He was a busy, curious boy who got into trouble at school. His teacher called him "addled," which means slow or dim. Edison's mother was frustrated with the school. She knew her son could learn. She decided to teach him at home instead. Her ideas worked. Before long, she had taught Edison everything she knew. He started reading books from the library and teaching himself.

Fun Facts about Thomas Edison for Kids

Edison was born in 1847 in Ohio. He was the youngest of seven children.

Edison's mother was an excellent school teacher. That is probably why she was able to teach Edison so well. Edison said about his mother, "All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."

Edison's mother let him set up a chemistry lab in the basement, which made his father very nervous.

Thomas Edison had scarlet fever when he was a child. The disease left him almost deaf.

When Edison was twelve, he started publishing and selling a newspaper to train passengers.

Edison started a fire on a train car doing chemistry experiments. He was kicked off the train.

At age fifteen, he began operating telegraphs. At age 22, he invented an improved stock ticker for the stock exchange. He was paid $40,000 for this invention - a lot of money back then. Edison used the money to take care of his ill mother and become a full-time inventor.

Thomas Edison Vocabulary

1. Telegraph: early communication device that used Morse code, which was brief sounds or signals

2. Phonograph: early record player

3. Inventor: someone who invents things

Learn More All About Thomas Edison and His Great Inventions

Watch this historical video all about Thomas Edison:

A video of a short biography about Thomas Edison.

Thomas Edison Q&A

Question: How many things did Edison invent?

Answer: Edison submitted his last invention for patent when he was 80 years old. He had 1,093 inventions.

Enjoyed the Easy Science for Kids Website all about Thomas Edison info? Take the FREE & fun all about Thomas Edison quiz and download FREE Thomas Edison worksheet for kids. For lengthy info click here.

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Do you love your cell phone? How about movies or your digital camera? Thomas Edison invented early versions of these modern marvels. He also invented the electric light bulb. Imagine how different life was before his inventions. The only way families could communicate with each other was through letters, which could take weeks or even months to arrive.

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Alexander Graham Bell: Inventor of the Telephone

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Kids learn about Alexander Graham Bell's biography. Famous inventor of the telephone.

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CANAdooDAday | Alexander Graham Bell Invents the Telephone | CBC Kids

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Fresberg Cartoon – Learning & History for Students

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Henry Ford (Biography for Children) Famous Inventors (Cartoons for Children)

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Kids learn about Henry Ford's biography including his early life, the founding of the Ford Motor company, and how he helped to develop the assembly line for mass production.

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Eastman was born in Waterville, New York. He founded the Eastman Kodak Company and invented roll film. This made photography popular and led to other men inventing film stock. His Kodak company still runs today, but more focused on printers and printing.

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All Aboard!

Have you ever enjoyed a ride on a train or taken a trip on a boat? Well, a man named Cornelius Vanderbilt had great business success with both of these forms of transportation. He got his start in business just when steam-powered transportation was becoming very popular, making him a very wealthy man.

The Power of Steam

Engines powered by steam completely changed how people traveled. In 1807, Robert Fulton invented the first steam-powered ship, called the Clermont. This meant that boats no longer needed sails or oars to move through the water. Then in 1825, Englishman George Stephenson developed a new steam locomotive that became the basis for modern rail travel, and the railroad was born. A few years later, the first public railroad in the United States, called the Baltimore and Ohio, began carrying passengers. Many Americans - like Cornelius Vanderbilt - began to see the business opportunities with steam-powered travel.

The Commodore

Cornelius Vanderbilt started his transportation empire when he borrowed $100 from his parents to purchase a boat to ferry people and freight from his home on Staten Island to New York and New Jersey. He quickly showed a talent for business that impressed those around him. The owner of a steamboat named Thomas Gibbons hired Vanderbilt to captain his ship and manage his finances. Because of his knowledge and skill as a captain, Vanderbilt was given the nickname 'Commodore.' A commodore is a high-ranking officer in the navy. During his time working for Gibbons, Vanderbilt learned how to manage a large business.

On His Own

Thomas Gibbon died in 1826 and soon after, Vanderbilt decided to start his own shipping company. Using his profits, he bought up more steamships and operated ferries around New York and New Jersey. He focused particularly on shipping cotton to the mills making cloth in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Soon, his company was one of the most profitable shipping companies in New York.

The Gold Rush

In 1849, the California Gold Rush began, and Vanderbilt saw an opportunity to expand his business. Thousands of people wanted to go to California to look for gold. One common way people traveled to California was by taking a ship to Central America, crossing there on land and then boarding another ship when they reached the Pacific Ocean to take them north to California. Vanderbilt bought ocean-going steamships that could carry hundreds of people to Central America, and his company grew even further.

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cornelius vanderbilt lesson for kids: biography & facts | study.com

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Cornelius Vanderbilt Lesson for Kids: Biography & Facts | Study.com

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Have you ever enjoyed a ride on a train or taken a trip on a boat? Well, a man named Cornelius Vanderbilt had great business success with both of these forms of transportation. He got his start in business just when steam-powered transportation was becoming very popular, making him a very wealthy man.

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jkblick - Early inventions that changed culture

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ARMOUR AND SWIFT Armour and Company founded by Philip D. Armour in 1867 Swift and Company founded by Gustavus Franklin Swift in early 1880's Both in Chicago, railway center for the shipping of livestock from the Great Plains to the East The Armour & Swift Meat Packing Complex was established in 1902 in Forth Worth, Texas; this was where West Texas cattle once driven up the Chisholm trail were all processed.

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Educational Videos for Students (Cartoons on Bullying, Leadership & More)

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George Washington Carver Story (Famous Inventor) Biography for Children(Cartoon) Black History Month

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The Brilliance of George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver is perhaps one of the most famous names in American history. People generally know him as the inventor of peanut butter, but his contributions to science go way beyond that.
Carver was born in 1860 in Diamond Grove, Missouri. His parents were slaves, and so was he. Prone to sickness, he was a frail child for most of his growing-up years. Because of this, he was not suited to heavy-duty work in the fields of his master's farm. Rather, George was sent to another town in Missouri, Neosho, to get an education. He proved so successful a student that he attended and then graduated from high school, in Kansas. He applied and was accepted to Highland University, even getting a scholarship for his good grades, but was rejected when the president of the university discovered that Carver was African-American.

He was hungry for knowledge, and so Carver applied to and was accepted at Simpson College, in Indianola, Iowa. He later transferred to Iowa Agricultural College (now known as Iowa State University), where he made such an impression on his instructors that they offered a position right after he graduated. He was the first African-American on the faculty.

He had from an early age been interested in plants (the study of botany), and he continued this study at the university greenhouse. He continued to study as well, earning his master's degree in agriculture in 1896. His greenhouse work included searching for cures for fungus diseases that ravaged cherry plants.

The following year, opportunity knocked again, as Booker T. Washington, the famed African-American educator, invited Carver to come teach at the famed Tuskegee Institute, in Tuskegee, Alabama. Carver accepted and became director of agriculture. Among his many famous achievements at Tuskegee were these:

He taught his students and other agriculture experts the practice of rotating crops, to ensure that fields didn't wear out their nutrient potential.

He directed the planting of peas, which took nitrogen from the air and transferred it to the soil, creating nitrate-rich soil that was perfect for planting cotton and tobacco.

He did the same with peanuts, which were also successful in enriching the soil.

Peanuts, however, grew very quickly. Soon, the peanut crop threatened to overwhelm the farmers at Tuskegee. Carver came to the rescue by finding uses for the peanut. He ultimately invented more than 300 products that used the peanut in development, including cheese, milk, facial cream, ink, shampoo, and soap.

Not stopping there, Carver moved on to the sweet potato, which also grew in abundance. More than 115 products later, Carver was famous again, making flour, starch, and artificial rubber using the sweet potato.

He turned next to the pecan, developing 75 products, found ways to use discarded corn stalks, and made paint and dye from clay.

Many of his ideas were used by the U.S. Military during World War I. And his seemingly ceaseless imagination for using foods to make non-food items made his name a household word. He was invited to speak before Congress. Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford invited Carver to his Dearborn, Mich., plant to discuss how to use goldenrod to make artificial rubber. Even the great Thomas Edison was impressed with Carver, inviting him to work at his Edison Laboratories for $100,000 a year. Carver refused, wanting to stay at Tuskegee.

He continued to work there until his death, on January 5, 1943. By that time, he had received numerous high-profile medals and awards and served on many boards and committees of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A few months after Carver died, his birthplace became a national monument, the first dedicated to an African-American.

Among the products created by Carver from various foods are the following:

Adhesives

Axle Grease

Bleach

Buttermilk

Chili Sauce

Cream

Instant Coffee

Linoleum

Mayonnaise

Meat Tenderizer

Metal Polish

Paper

Peanut Butter

Rubbing Oils

Shampoo

Shaving Cream

Shoe Polish

Sugar

Social Studies for Kids
copyright 2002-2021
David White

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The Brilliance of George Washington Carver

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The Brilliance of George Washington Carver George Washington Carver is perhaps one of the most famous names in American history. People generally know him as the inventor of peanut butter, but his contributions to science go way beyond that. Carver was born in 1860 in Diamond Grove, Missouri.

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Henry Bessemer invented "Process for Mass-Producing Steel"

Sir Henry Bessemer was a British engineer and inventor who is most well known for devising a cheap process of manufacturing steel. Bessemer was born in 1813 in Charlton, Hertfordshire, England. His father, Anthony Bessemer, was also an inventor and a member of the French Academy of Science, for his contributions to the improvement of the optical microscope. In later life, Anthony settled in Hertfordshire where his son Henry was born.

Bessemer was largely self educated, a fact that he often attributed to his success. He felt that his lack of formal education gave him a flexibility of thinking that others did not possess. He moved to London at the age of 17 where he made his first major contributions. This included a process for making metallic paints that were in high demand but so far were only available in Germany. German manufacturers jealously guarded their production secrets, and as a result were able to charge premium prices for their products.

Bessemer studied the paint and devised a method of producing it by inventing a machine that created a bronze dust. When this bronze dust was added to regular paint, it gave the desired metallic effect to the paint. This became a best selling product and Bessemer was able to make a considerable profit from it. In turn, he kept the production method a closely guarded secret within his family. The profits from the sale of these paints allowed Bessemer to focus on his other interests and inventions.

Another important invention was an official authorization stamp developed for the British Stamp Office. Forged documents were a persistent problem in those days and Bessemer contributed to its solution by developing a unique stamp that would be embossed into the paper and would therefore be much more difficult to replicate. Later, at the suggestion of his fiancé, he added a movable feature to it that would allow the date to be changed and this would make the stamp almost forgery proof. The Stamp Office really appreciated Bessemer's idea but he was not compensated for it. Instead, he received a job offer of the position of Superintendent of Stamps. Bessemer was unhappy with the treatment he had received as he had been expecting a reward or payment for his novel contribution.

Bessemer's most important contribution was the development of a cheap process for making steel. In those days, the preferred metals in production were either iron ore or cast iron. This was during the time of the Crimean War in the 1850s so cannons were an important consideration for the British Navy. At that time cannons were made of cast iron but the newer types of explosives were unsuitable for use with the old cannons and there were often accidents and mishaps. Steel was a much better alternative to iron but it was extremely expensive to produce which rendered it useless in large scale manufacturing.

Henry Bessemer was able to discover a process to create a new form of steel by blowing air across molten iron which removed the impurities and made the steel lighter, more malleable and much cheaper to produce. Bessemer opened up his own production facility in the north of England and became a very wealthy businessman. Some of his success can be attributed to the fact that others were unable to replicate the same results using the same process. It was later discovered that this was due to the presence of phosphorous in the iron, something which was lacking in the iron found in the north of England (that is the type used by Bessemer). Bessemer's success led him to receive a knighthood in June 1879, the same year that he was also made a fellow of the Royal Society. He received numerous other honors including being elected as a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He died in March 1898 at the age of 85 in London.

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Henry Bessemer invented "Process for Mass-Producing Steel" Sir Henry Bessemer was a British engineer and inventor who is most well known for devising a cheap process of manufacturing steel. Bessemer was born in 1813 in Charlton, Hertfordshire, England.