Inventors

Thomas Alva Edison

Prolific inventor Thomas Alva Edison was almost completely deaf. His being deaf may have been caused by a genetic condition that also affected his father and one of his sons. In Edison’s case, his hearing ability might have been made worse by an early illness or physical trauma that occurred during his childhood. Reportedly, Edison believed that being deaf helped him to focus and concentrate.

Many of Edison’s inventions transformed the world when they were introduced and are still being used in some form today, such as the electric light bulb, electric vote recorder, stock ticker, phonograph, and movie projector. He also patented inventions that improved on existing items, like the telegraph, telephone, and typewriter. As of 2015, Edison holds the record for the most U.S. patents—1,093 in total—to be issued to a single individual in U.S. history.

In 1876, Edison opened a laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey, where he and his partners invented, manufactured, and distributed products all under the same roof. The operational model was in itself a form of invention, creating a new way of doing business that many organizations continue to use in the present day. During the decade Edison spent at the Menlo Park laboratory, he developed his favorite invention, the phonograph, and one of his most significant contributions, the electric light system. In 1879, Edison and his team succeeded in making an incandescent light bulb that burned long enough to be practical, lighting a home for many hours. He and his team then invented the electric power system required to bring electricity into the home to power the light bulbs, including dynamos to make the electric power, wires and fuses to carry the current, and switches to turn the lights on and off.

In 1887, Edison constructed a much larger laboratory facility in West Orange, New Jersey. Edison worked there for the next 44 years, until his death in 1931. During his years in West Orange, Edison improved on his phonograph and storage battery inventions and did all of his work on the kinetograph and projecting kinetoscope related to motion pictures.

William E. Shaw, Deaf Inventor “Talkless Telephone” 1924, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Source: Gallaudet University Archives

The famous inventor was the youngest of seven children born to Samuel and Nancy Edison. He was born on February 11, 1847, in Milan, Ohio, but spent much of his youth in Port Huron, Michigan. After a short time in Toronto, Canada, as a telegraph assistant, Edison worked as a roaming telegraph operator in cities along the U.S. East Coast. He settled for a period in Boston and New York before making New Jersey his permanent home.

...