Edison The Inventor
Three weeks after arriving in New York Edison had a job that paid much better than his Boston employer. The story goes that Edison who was broke and on the verge of starving came across a panicing broker. The broker was freaking out because an important stock ticker had broken. Edison tinkering paid off when he quickly fixed the ticker. The broker hired Edison on the spot as the company's repair man for $300.00 a month a very impresive amount in 1869.
A year later Edison became a rich man when a company paid $40,000 for an improved stock ticker. Edison had expected no more than $5,000. After getting his first check for that much money Edison was at a loss for what to do. It is said that Edison cashed the check and stayed up the entire night counting the money over and over. The next day a friend talked Edison into putting the money into a bank. Nearly all biographers agree that Edison was not a very good business man. Most think Edison would agree with them since he eventually hired professional bussiness men to negotiate the sales of his patents.
With the money gained from the stock ticker invention Edison started his workshop, Menlo Park. In 1878 Edison and his workers invented the Phonograph, a year and a half later they had invented the lightbulb. After inventing the light bulb Edison continued to invent, but could never outdo himself. Before his death in 1931 he had amassed 1,093 patents.
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The Light Bulb