Previous DemocratizerNext Democratizer Thomas Alva Edison  Born:
  1847, Milan, OH Died:   1931, Llewellyn Park, NJ  Did You
Know?  The first light bulbs lasted a mere 150 hours. Edison
introduced one that lasted 1,200 hours. Today the average light
bulb lasts approximately 1,500 hours.  Photos: (left) Edison
National Historic Site; (right) Schenectady Museum  The Science
of Innovation  The "Wizard of Menlo Park" brought the world
electric light, recorded music, and the movies, among other
things, and turned innovation into a science by inventing the
research laboratory.  Years of Change Born in 1847, Edison would
witness tremendous change during his lifetime. He would also
instigate many of those changes. At age 12, he began work as a
train boy on a Michigan railroad. That newfangled conveyance
brought with it the telegraph, and soon young Edison, whose
hearing was deteriorating, found work as a telegraph operator.
The self-taught boy set up a mobile chemistry lab and printing
press, and tinkered with telegr