Toni Dimaano Science 10.18.2022 06:Oct AM EDT

Thomas Edison Death Anniversary: 5 Things You Probably Didn't Know About the Inventor of the Phonograph, Light Bulb

You might know Thomas Edison for his genius inventions, but there is more to the man than the photograph and the light bulb.

Edison was dubbed as a larger-than-life hero who can come up with brilliant ideas, earning him the nickname "Wizard of Menlo Park," according to the Smithsonian Magazine.

However, it has not always been fame and fortune for Edison as he also went through a fair share of mishaps and misfortune through his life.

With this, what is a better way to commemorate his death anniversary today than by learning about five things you probably did not know about the inventor.

1. Edison Was Deaf In One Ear By The Age Of 12

Thomas Alva Edison was the youngest child of seven children to Nancy and Samuel Edison Jr, and was only one of the four that survived to adulthood at the time.

History writes that at the age of 12, Edison developed a hearing loss, which cost him his complete hearing in one ear and made him nearly deaf on the other.

PBS News Hour reports that he believed that his deafness was a blessing since it helped him tune out the noise in his environment, letting him focus more on his work.

However, historians are still uncertain as to what caused Edison's deafness, although this may be attributed to scarlet fever or mastoiditis, which were common at the time.

2. His Teachers Did Not See A Future For Young Edison

Discovery Walks says that Edison is not exactly the bright young student you might expect him to be.

According to his teachers, the inventor was not the best in class because he was a slow learner, and he did not pay attention to the lectures.

This comment infuriated Edison's mother Nancy that she opted to homeschool her son instead, but this only allowed Edison to explore Science and Art.

Nancy gave her son special attention, which let him be more motivated to work on mechanical objects that eventually landed him at the Cooper Union.

3. Menlo Park at Newark Was His "Factory"

Edison worked at the Menlo Park in Newark, New Jersey from 1870 to 1875, where he came up with different telegraph-related products for different telegraph companies in America.

This came after his mother's death, which forced him to suffer financial difficulties that led him to build a makeshift laboratory and machine shop with the help of his father.

Some historians even found that a few of Edison's greatest inventions can be traced back to the ones he made in his Menlo Park "invention factory.

4. Not Everything He Did Was A Success

Despite the massive success of his inventions, the Smithsonian Magazine recalls that Edison also faced challenges in the actualization of some of his works.

"Even for his biggest failures he didn't spend a lot of time wringing his hands and saying 'Oh my God, we spent a fortune on that,'" Leonard DeGraaf, an archivist, writes about Edison.

Among the inventions that did not get as much traction as the light bulb and the telegraph were Edison's automatic vote recorder, electric pen, tinfoil phonograph, and creepy talking dolls.

5. He Amassed Thousands Of Patents Before His Death

Edison was a prolific inventor who acquired a number of patents, which became a driving force for him to further develop them into innovations like the phonograph.

The first device he applied for a patent for was his electrographic vote-recorder machine, which was then rejected by politicians, according to Discover Walks.

By the time he died, on this day in 1931, he was able to get 1,093 patents, including 389 for electric light and power, 195 for phonographs, 150 for telegraphs, 141 for storage batteries, and 34 for the telephone.

Edison's inventions greatly impacted the world's energy sector through his invention of the light bulb, electric light, electricity generator, and many more that his legacy lives on until today.