Wednesday, February 11, 2026

Thomas A. Edison Birthday Tidbits

Today's the birthday of the great inventor Thomas A. Edison, who was born in Milan, Ohio on Feb. 11, 1847.

I'm not sure if his birth is even acknowledged any more in the media. The Lorain Journal used to occasionally honor the great man with front page news stories on his natal day, but not every year. The 100th anniversary of his birth in 1947 was a big deal, which I wrote about in a two-part post here and here.

Nevertheless, the seven blog posts I wrote about him have pretty much covered the big anniversaries (his 100th, and his 125th) and the restoration of his birthplace. But he still popped up in the Journal now and then, and I collected a few of these items and present them here today.

Edison was still alive on January 17, 1923 when this small item about him appeared on the editorial page as part of a series entitled, "Poor Boys Who Became Great."

Edison passed away in 1931. A mere five years later, his birthday was being commercialized to sell light bulbs! (The 'Mazda' brand here was a trademarked name used by General Electric.)

Ten years later, Ohio Edison ran this ad on Feb. 9, 1946, featuring some interesting quotes by the great man.
And ten years after that, Edison popped up in two unlikely places: the "Stranger than Science" column by Frank Edwards, and humorist Bennett Cerf's "Try And Stop Me" column!
Aug. 27, 1966
Nov. 1, 1966
I celebrated Edison's birthday by replacing not one, but two bulbs in the overhead light/fan in my bedroom. They both burned out yesterday. Weird!

3 comments:

  1. I remember reading both the Edwards and Cerf columns cited, getting a chill from one, and a laugh from the other.
    Thank you, Dan, for the painstaking research you put into this blog, for our edification and education.

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  2. I remember, as a child, reading that when, as a boy, he worked as a telegrapher on the railroad, he was hoisted onto a moving train by his ears. This later caused his deafness. Even then I thought the cause-and-effect sort of whacky.

    One of the things I like to do, while traveling, is look for streets, avenues, or boulevards named "Edison." They're particularly popular in Ohio. Imagine that!

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    Replies
    1. On the musical side, there's that one hit wonder studio band, Edison Lighthouse.

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