Thomas died of pancreatic cancer on Sunday, the Little Rock Nine Foundation said in a statement. He was living in Columbus, Ohio. As a 15-year-old, Thomas was one of the nine African-American students who braved segregationist mobs to integrate the all-white school under the protection of military forces.

In his spare time, he read widely, studied and experimented with telegraph technology, and became familiar with electrical science. In 1866, at age 19, Edison moved to Louisville, Kentucky, working for The Associated Press. The night shift allowed him to spend most of his time reading and experimenting.

After graduation, he attended what is now California State University in Los Angeles, where he received a degree in business administration. In 1964, Thomas narrated the documentary Nine from Little Rock, which won an Academy Award.

Edison began working at an early age, as most boys did at the time. At thirteen he took a job as a newsboy, selling newspapers and candy on the local railroad that ran through Port Huron to Detroit.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THOMAS EDISON: He was fired from his first two jobs for being “non-productive.” As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When a reporter asked, “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?”

Unlike most inventors, Edison depended upon dozens of “muckers” to build and test his ideas. In return, they received “only workmen’s wages.” However, the inventor said, it was “not the money they want, but the chance for their ambition to work.” The average work week was six days for a total of 55 hours.

Thomas Alva Edison

Thomas Edison was a philanthropist. Most of his donations were in the form of support for others who were working on inventions that would benefit…

Thomas Alva Edison – Estimated Net Worth Today: $200 Million.

A Brief History of the Light Bulb The electric light, one of the everyday conveniences that most affects our lives, was not “invented” in the traditional sense in 1879 by Thomas Alva Edison, although he could be said to have created the first commercially practical incandescent light.

His exploits and value to the American economy and society are legendary-the man who gave us motion pictures, phonograph, the light bulb and electric power industry, vastly improved telephones, and commercial R&D labs that Fortune 500 companies use to give birth to an endless march of new products.

Mary Stilwell Edison in her late 20s. Although many books say that Mary died of typhoid, her death certificate states that she died of “congestion of the brain.” Mary and Thomas Edison had three children in their 13 years of marriage.

: a machine combining a kinetoscope and a phonograph synchronized so as to produce the illusion of motion in a scene with accompanying sounds.

Three factors in combination are generally recognized as contributing to Edison’s success: A durable incandescent material. Elimination of air from the bulb-a better vacuum. A filament material of high resistance.

13.5 hours

Livermore, California

Centennial Light According to Guinness World Records, the Centennial Light is the world’s longest-lasting light. The light bulb was first turned on in 1901 and is currently 116 years old.