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Thomas Alva Edison was born
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Thomas Edison Moved
Thomas Edison moved to Port Huron, Michigan. -
Takes job at Grand Trunk Railway.
Thomas Edison takes a job selling newspapers and candy at the Grand Trunk Railway. -
Telegraph operator.
Begins working as a telegraph operator in Port Huron. -
First Patent
Applied for his first patent, the electric vote recorder. -
Recives patent for his mimeograph.
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Edision announces his invention of the phonograph, a machine that records sound.
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The phonograph is pantented by Thomas Edison.
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Edison devises an electric incandescent.
Edison devises an electric incandescent light bulb that lasts for more than 13 hours. Organizes the Edison Ore Milling Company. -
Edison Effect
Edison discovers phenomenon which is later termed the "Edison Effect". -
Edison Electric Lamp Co.
Edison creates the Edison Electric Lamp Co., the Edison Machine Works and other companies to produce his electric lighting system. -
Edison opens commercial electric station
Edison opens a commercial electric station in New York City with approximately 85 customers. The Menlo Park laboratory is closed, and another instituted in New York City. -
Edison's wife, Mary, dies on August 9.
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The summer of 1886
Patent awarded to Chichester A. Bell and Charles Sumner Tainter for their wax cylinder graphophone; Edison later refuses to collaborate with them on the invention. Edison marries Mina Miller on February 24. Moves his laboratory to East Newark, New Jersey. -
Edison develops the New Phonograph
Edison develops the New Phonograph, using a wax cylinder. Edison Phonograph Co. formed in October. Edison moves to a larger and more modern laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey -
Zoopraxiscope
Edison meets Eadweard Muybridge, who shows him his zoopraxiscope; Edison sets William K. L. Dickson and other assistants to work to make a Kinetoscope, "an instrument which does for the Eye what the phonograph does for the Ear". Improved Phonograph introduced, followed by the Perfected Phonograph. Edison's daughter, Madeleine, is born on May 31. Jesse H. Lippincott assumes control of phonograph companies by forming the North American Phonograph Co. on July 14; leases phonographs as dictation mac -
Bankruptcy for Phonograph Co.
Edison declares bankruptcy for the North American Phonograph Co. Applications submitted to U.S. Patent Office for the Kinetograph and the Kinetoscope. First Kinetoscope parlor opened in midtown Manhattan on April 14. Edison puts the Edison Manufacturing Co. in charge of the manufacture and sale of Kinetoscopes and films on April 1. -
Motion picture projector
The Edison Spring Motor Phonograph appears. Dickson leaves Edison's employ on April 2. C. Francis Jenkins and Thomas Armat demonstrate their Phantoscope, a motion picture projector, in Atlanta, Georgia, in late September to early October. -
Invetnions - Vitascope
Edison forms the National Phonograph Co. with the purpose of manufacturing phongraphs for home use on January 27. Spring Motor Phonograph is released under aegis of the National Phonograph Co., followed by the Edison Home Phonograph. Edison negotiates in January with Raff & Gammon to manufacture the Phantoscope which Armat presents as his own invention; machine is renamed the Vitascope in February, and Edison's name put on it. Vitascope publicly exhibited at Koster & Bial's Music Hall on A -
Edison Manufacturing
Edison Manufacturing Co. incorporated on May 5.
Edwin S. Porter hired by Edison Co. in November to work with film equipment; he later becomes the company's most famous director. -
Mass-producing wax cylinders
Process for mass-producing duplicate wax cylinders put into effect; they are known as Gold Moulded cylinders. A new film studio for the Edison Co. in New York is completed in January; this is the nation's first indoor, glass-enclosed studio. U.S. Circuit Court recognizes Edison's motion picture patent claims in his suit in July; American Mutoscope & Biograph Company appeals decision. Edison cameras are present at Pan-American Exposition when President McKiney is shot by an assassin. -
Business phonographs introduced
Business Phonograph introduced. Nickelodeons become popular in Chicago and later spread to other urban areas. -
Amberol Record Introduced and New Edison film studio opened
Amberol Record introduced; the cylinder could play as long as four minutes, twice as long as previous cylinders. Association of Edison Licensees and Film Service Association formed; Motion Picture Patents Co. formed from it later to include Biograph licensees. New Edison film studio opened in the Bronx, New York, June-July. -
Company reorganized into Thomas A. Edison, Inc
Company reorganized into Thomas A. Edison, Inc -
Edison Disc Phonograph put on sale.
Blue Amberol introduced, an unbreakable cylinder with superior sound. -
Kinetophone abandoned.
Tone tests for Diamond Discs introduced.
Motion Picture Patents Co. found guilty of antitrust violation on October 1.
Edison named head of the Naval Consulting Board. -
American involvement in World War I begins....
American involvement in World War I begins; Edison creates Army and Navy Model of the Disc Phonograph. -
Motion Picture Sudio
Motion picture studio ceases production in February; studio sold on March 30 to the Lincoln & Parker Film Co. -
Edison resigns as president.....
Edison resigns as president of Thomas A. Edison, Inc., and becomes chairman of the board; his son, Charles takes over as president. -
Edison takes over Splitdorf-Bethlehem Electrical Co.
Edison takes over Splitdorf-Bethlehem Electrical Co., a move which allows him to manufacture radios.
Edison awarded Congressional gold metal for his many contributions. -
Edison makes programs for radio on long-playing discs;
first used by radio station WAAM of Newark, New Jersey, on April 4. Edison Portable Disc Phonograph with New Edison Needle Records introduced.
Orders given on October 21 to close the Edison disc business. -
Thomas Alva Edison dies in West Orange.
:-( R.I.P Thomas Edison!