Thomas Alva Edison was born in 1847 in Ohio and grew up to become one of America's greatest inventors. As a young boy, he showed a talent for tinkering and selling newspapers. In his early career, Edison developed telegraph technology and established America's first industrial research lab in Menlo Park, New Jersey. Some of his most famous inventions included the phonograph in 1877 and the long-lasting, commercially viable incandescent light bulb in 1879. Through his innovations, Edison helped power the modern world and establish General Electric as a leader in electricity.