Thomas Edison is often considered America’s greatest inventor. Born in 1847 in Milan, Ohio, and raised in Port Huron, Michigan, Edison was entrepreneurial from a young age. At 12, he started publishing and selling his own newspaper; soon, he was conducting science experiments in makeshift laboratories. He became a prolific inventor despite his hearing impairments and having little formal education — his mother, a former teacher, homeschooled him, and Edison later credited her with his success.

Edison held more than 1,000 patents in his lifetime, for groundbreaking inventions including the phonograph, an early movie camera, and the first commercially viable incandescent lightbulb. While he is hailed for his ingenuity, Edison isn’t without criticism: His aggressive business practices have come under scrutiny, as have his competitive rivalries, notably with fellow inventor Nikola Tesla. Yet he remains one of the most famous and prolific thinkers in American history, and one whose work ultimately shaped the modern industrialized world. Edison died in 1931 at the age of 84.