Did you know that Thomas Edison got his first job as a telegraph operator after saving the daughter of a station agent from an oncoming train? Or that he didn’t invent the lightbulb, but instead created the first commercially-viable version? More »
Before our Christmas tree lighting needs were taken care of with $US25 and a trip to Target, creating the atmosphere meant placing candles — wax towers topped with fire — onto seasonal kindling. Think it’s frightening now when your dog tugs a branch? Just imagine your living room bursting into flames for the sake of Christmas cheer. More »
Thomas Edison is an inventor known for great things. We also know he had a pretty good sense of humour. Some of these, er, lesser known contributions from Mr Edison were ahead of their time; others are just plain twisted. More »
newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http://www.youtube.com/v/0WA47Y6em8M&hl=en&fs=1&hd=1","customParams":[] ,"width":500,"height":332.5,"ratio":0.615,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube","wrap":true,"agegate":false} ); The bridge was only 16-years-old when Edison shot this video from a BMT train crossing to Manhattan. It may not be HD, or 3D, or whatever fancy-format you kids like these days, but it takes me right back. [KottkeviaBoingBoing] More »
You can’t blame the people of 1920 for falling for Edison’s practical joke. After all, this was the man who invented the light bulb! When he told a magazine he’d invented a phone that communicates with spirits, hysteria understandably ensued. More »
Thomas Edison was not an inventor for the love of the game. “I always invented to obtain money to go on inventing,” he said. For a tireless mind like that, a lab had to be far more than a lab. More »
newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http://www.youtube.com/v/KcE6fTO7pqA&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22","customParams":[] ,"width":570,"height":400,"ratio":0.824,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube","wrap":true,"agegate":false} );
Thomas Edison and his friends were prone to recording short movies for amusement. This particular one reveals how the brilliant inventor was just like most men when it came down to it: He just wanted to watch women box. More »
newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http://www.youtube.com/v/leYj—P4CgQ&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22","customParams":[] ,"width":570,"height":412,"ratio":0.824,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube"} );
There’s little action, no sound, and the footage is grainy. But this brief little clip may be the only existing video of writer Mark Twain and his daughters Clara and Jean. It was captured in 1909 by inventor Thomas Edison. More »
This was Nikola Tesla’s letterhead. It reminded us that along with the overlooked little things changing our lives, but let’s face it: We need the loud, filthy, slaughter-filled battles just as much. Like the dirty War of the Currents. More »
