1-151-915 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Thomas Edison experimenting with electric lamps on his wedding day, 1871 (1883). Edison (right) is preoccupied with his work as his bride and other guests wait in the adjoining room. Edison was a prolific American inventor who registered over 1000 patents, many of which were related to the development of electricity. His inventions, in collaboration with his staff, include the automatic telegraph, the electric lamp, the phonograph (gramophone) and the kinetoscope, an early form of cinematography.