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National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Thomas Edison's Inventions in 1900s and Today: From New to You!
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.
Rutgers University
Thomas Edison Papers: Edison's Patents
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...
A&E Television
History.com: 6 Key Inventions by Thomas Edison
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...
Great Idea Finder
The Great Idea Finder: Thomas Alva Edison
This site from The Great Idea Finder presents a lengthy biography of Thomas Edison, followed by a wealth of suggested resources including books, movies, and the Internet.
Rutgers University
Blueprint for Change: The Life and Times of Lewis H. Latimer
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...
OpenStax
Open Stax: Industrialization and Big Business, 1870 1900: Inventors of the Age
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.
Other
Earliest Voices: Gallery From the Vincent Voice Library
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...
Rutgers University
Guide to Motion Picture Catalogs: The Peephole Kinetoscope
A brief description of the peephole kinetoscope which Thomas Edison unveiled at the Columbian Exhibition in 1893.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Inventor of the Week: Granville T. Woods: The Multiplex Telegraph
A description of Granville Woods' successful invention, the multiplex telegraph, which greatly improved railroad safety. From the Lemelson-MIT Project.
Great Idea Finder
Great Idea Finder: Lewis Howard Latimer
An extensive biography of the life of African-American inventor, Lewis Latimer. Find out about his primary claim to fame in the development of an incandescent light bulb, but be sure to read about his many patents, and his importance to...
Other
Black Inventor Online Museum: Lewis Latimer
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...
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Education: Spotlight Biography 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...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: James Watt
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...
Great Idea Finder
The Great Idea Finder: Inventor Granville Woods Biography
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.
Other
The Birth of the Recording Industry
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.
Other
Ced Magic: 1906 Deforest Audion Vacuum Tube
This is a one page presentation of the historical development of the audion tube. An image of DeForest's invention is included.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: John Ambrose Fleming
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,...
Country Studies US
Country Studies: Technology and Change
Brief historical description of the technology introduced in the U.S. after the Civil War and the changes new technology and inventions brought about.