Thomas Alva Edison was born in 1847 in Milan, Ohio and grew up in Port Huron, Michigan. He had little formal schooling but taught himself through reading scientific books. By age 16, he was a skilled telegraph operator. His first invention was an improved stock ticker in 1869. Edison went on to become one of the most prolific inventors in history, holding 1,093 US patents for such inventions as the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a commercially viable incandescent light bulb.