Thomas Alva Edison (11. 2. 1847 - 18. 10. 1931) - American inventor and innovator. His name is listed under hundreds of patents, which often significantly accelerate technical progress. In 1789 he built the first light bulb with carbon fiber, which after improvements became a model for modern mass-produced lamps.

Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio. In childhood was considered too clever and had a problem with the teaching, so that his mother had done at school and his education took care of itself. Edison was full of entrepreneurial spirit, organizational skills and extraordinary diligence. This was joined by curiosity about the natural sciences, which led him to the first attempts at a young age.

In 1886, built a research center in the Villa Glenmont in West Orange, which is still maintained as a heritage site (Edison National Historical Site). At that time he was two years a widower. He married again with Mina, daughter of a wealthy inventor and marketer of agricultural machinery Lewis Miller. Of the two marriages came six children.

Edison employed many significant inventors, among them the famous Nikola Tesla. Now with him but got into a dispute about the use of alternating current. Edison did not recognize what options brings this kind of power and steadfastly advocated DC. Tesla's solution proved to be better for the transmission of electricity over long distances. This loss does not reduce Edison's importance as a world enriched by a number of inventions and technical improvements. Patents left behind more than a thousand.

In 1877, for example, patented the phonograph, which was the forerunner of the gramophone, later improved version then serially manufactured.

Among his most famous inventions include the electric bulb: the first is lit for a short time in the spring of 1879. Through constant experiments with carbon fiber was able to increase the lifespan of up to industrial use. In 1911 he visited Brno to look at the local theater lighting (today Mahenova), which implemented the engineer Emil Kolben. In his entourage then came to Prague. The American genius was known emphasis on quality, from which it was not going to compromise, even if it would bring financial gain.

Edison's inventions hit into all industries, invented and improved even in the military, but there most of his ideas remained unused.