Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor born in 1847 in Ohio. After working as a telegraph operator as a youth, he went on to establish Menlo Park, the first industrial research lab, where he invented many devices including the phonograph and the long-lasting light bulb. Through his work at Menlo Park and later companies, Edison made major contributions to technologies like electric power generation and motion pictures, holding over 1,000 patents by the end of his career.