He died at his home in West Orange, New Jersey, USA. He was 84.

Edison was not schooled himself, he achieved his many successes with the help of considerable, hired, expertise.

He discovered the phonograph while trying to work out how to record telephone conversations.

With this invention he became a world famous sensation, being dubbed the "Wizard of Menlo Park", named after the park in which his laboratory was built.

He would also be credited with the invention of a number of household appliances:

• 1879 The incandescent lightbulb.
• Late 1880's: an early movie camera and projector.

His biggest invention was a complete generation and distribution system for electricity. It was the first ever power plant in the world, built in New York.

During his life he registered 1,093 patents.