Thomas Edison

Inventor; born in Milan, Ohio, Raised in Ohio and Michigan, he was taken out of school at age seven after only three months in the classroom his constant questioning led some teachers to consider him retarded;b1and was educated by his mother. He showed an early curiosity for explanations of how everything worked and was especially interested in chemistry. At age 12 he went to work selling newspapers and snacks on the railroad; he also …

…theory and mathematics he might not have endorsed the definition of genius attributed to him: "one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration." In fact, he made only one true scientific discovery (1883), "the Edison effect," for which he could see no commercial applications but which anticipated the vacuum tube that would become the basis of the radio. But using his own methods, he had spent his life inventing many of the devices that shaped the modern world.