Thomas Edison started his career at age 15 selling newspapers, where he became interested in engineering and electricity. He developed his first major invention, an improved stock ticker, at age 22, which was sold for $40,000. Edison moved his laboratory to New Jersey in 1870 where he married Mary Stilwell and had three children with her before she passed away from a brain tumor at age 29 in 1884. Some of Edison's most famous inventions included the phonograph in 1877, which allowed recorded sound playback, and an improved long-lasting light bulb in 1878 using a carbonized filament. By the end of his career, Edison held 1,093 U.S. patents before passing away