This site offers an exhaustive list of 1,093 patents granted to Thomas Edison. There is also a graphic representing his annual output available. Hyperlinks to much more information. Included are the actual drawings of inventions...

Edison's genius was improving on others' technologies and making them more practical for the general public. Thomas Edison applied for his first patent in 1868, when he was just 21 years old. The famous inventor's first brainchild was...

In this lesson plan, students will consider "Thomas Edison's Inventions in the 1900s and Today: From "New" to You!." The plan includes worksheets and other student materials that can be found under the resource tab.

An extensive look at the inventor, Lewis Latimer, from the Thomas Edison Papers at Rutgers University. Read essays about his life and inventions, the culture in Boston which encouraged his work, and his life outside his inventions. A...

Although it never quite measured up to expectations, the Edison battery paved the way for the modern alkaline battery.

Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison duke it out over the best way to transmit electricity and Heinrich Hertz is the first person (unbeknownst to him) to broadcast and receive radio waves.

This site addresses the advent of the voice recording. The introduction talks about the country at the time of this invention, the feelings of people on the topic, and early recording itself. Included are voice recordings of such...

In the Industrial Revolution, new products and inventions spurred the growth of big business. Learn about some of these inventions and the people who created them, for example, Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison.

A brief description of the peephole kinetoscope which Thomas Edison unveiled at the Columbian Exhibition in 1893.

The biography of the fascinating African-American inventor, Lewis Latimer. In addition to finding out about his development of the carbon filament for the incandescent lamp, you can read about his expertise in patent law, his association...

Here's an interesting look at the development of the phonograph by Thomas Edison and other inventors.

This site provides information on American inventors Benjamin Franklin, Robert Fulton, Eli Whitney, Thomas Jefferson, Isaac Singer, Wilbur Wright, Thomas Alva Edison, Elias Howe, and Alexander Graham Bell. It offers pictures from and...

Like fun house mirrors, motion pictures over the past one hundred years have reflected, challenged, influenced, and altered our visions of ourselves and the world in which we live. This virtual Exhibition was produced by the Photographic...

A detailed biography of Granville T. Woods, who was known as "the Black Edison" because of his many inventions. He is best known for greatly improving the safety of railroads by his invention of the Multiplex Railway Telegraph.

A description of Granville Woods' successful invention, the multiplex telegraph, which greatly improved railroad safety. From the Lemelson-MIT Project.

John Ambrose Fleming was an electronics pioneer who invented the oscillation valve, or vacuum tube, a device that would help make radios, televisions, telephones and even early electronic computers possible. A brilliant innovator,...

The Scottish instrument maker and inventor James Watt had a tremendous impact on the shape of modern society. His improvements to the steam engine were a significant factor in the Industrial Revolution, and when the Watt engine was...

Here is a thorough biography of inventor Granville T. Woods, who is credited with improving railway safety for bot the trains and trainmen. Find out what concepts in railroad safety are still being used today.

From the series, They Made America, on PBS, this biography of George Westinghouse tells about his development of the air brake for railroad cars, and his experimentation with alternating current that revolutionized the transmission of...

This is a one page presentation of the historical development of the audion tube. An image of DeForest's invention is included.

This primary source set explores the development, commercialization, and impact of electricity.

Brief historical description of the technology introduced in the U.S. after the Civil War and the changes new technology and inventions brought about.

Here is a very interesting article about the birth of the recording industry. It primarily deals with the invention and improvement of the phonograph beginning in 1877.

[Free Registration/Login Required] This learning module engages students in goal setting. A Power Point feauturing "famous failures" and goal setting activities are included.