IT was around this time in the 1800s that Thomas Edison did a whole lot for mankind with magnificent knowledge and great inventions. So today, we take the time to look at his life and career.

1 At the tender age of 10, Edison built his first science laboratory in the basement of his family’s home.

2 Edison’s first patented invention was a flop. In 1869, when Edison was just 22 years old, he got his first patent for a telegraphic vote-recording machine for the legislature, and let’s just say nobody was pleased with its speed.

3 On Christmas Day in 1871, at the age of 24, Edison married his 16-year old employee Mary Stilwell, and he proposed using Morse Code.

4 Edison was credited for inventing the basic tattoo machine. In 1876, he patented the Stencil-Pens, an engraving device that many years later was modified by Samuel O’Reilly to make the world’s first tattoo machine.

5 In 1893, Edison constructed the first motion-picture studio. This structure was 15.2 metres in length.

6 Edison’s most famous statement is: “Genius is one per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration”.

7 The period from 1879 to 1900 is called the Age of Edison. This span of time is the period when Edison produced and perfected most of his devices.

8 Edison was already knowledgeable about electricity and telegraphy as a TEENager and it wasn’t long before he came up with electric light invention.

9 Edison was credited for improving the telephone, which was invented by Alexander Graham Bell to such an extent that it could carry speech clearly over almost unlimited distances.

10 Edison received many awards from the governments of Chile, Britain, Japan, Russia, and many other nations. In 1881, Edison was awarded the French Legion of Honor for developing electric power distribution systems and later in 1889, Italy made him a Grand Officer of the Crown.

— Compiled by Melaine Warren