778455 Thomas Edison, c.1877-8 (b/w photo) by Brady, Mathew (1823-96); Private Collection; (add.info.: Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In Washington with his second phonograph (first 1877)); American, out of copyright.