1-158-115 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor, with his first dynamo for producing electric light, 1880s. Edison (1847-1931) was a prolific inventor who registered over 1000 patents, many of which were related to the development of electricity. His inventions, in collaboration with his staff, include the automatic telegraph, the electric lamp, the phonograph (gramophone) and the kinetoscope, an early form of cinematography. In 1882 the Edison General Electric Company opened New York's first electric power station which operated on the DC (direct current) system.