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Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931)
By the sale of telegraphic appliances Edison earned $40,000 and with his money he established his own laboratory in 1876.In 1868 he invented the new telegraph system, in 1874 the typewriter, in 1877 the phonograph and in 1879 the electric light bulb.
In 1887 Edison moved his laboratory from Menlo Park, New Jersey to West Orange, New Jersey where he constructed a large laboratory for experimentation and research. In 1882 he devoloped and installled the world's first large central eletric-power station, located in New York. Edison died in West Orange in October in 1931.
Edison was born in Milan, Ohio. Thomas had very little schooling because his mother took him out of school because he asked too many questions. One day, he saved a young boy from a rail wagon. Soon Edison had a job as a telegraph operator on a Canadian railway and he invented a better way to do it. 
One of Edison's phonographs (dated 1910) is on display at our stand, together with one of the very earliest recordings. If you are lucky, you may get the chance to listen to it!