AMERICAN HERO Thomas Edison, seen here with his incandescent lightbulb, encapsulated the American Dream, working tirelessly on his many inventions
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THOMAS EDISON: INVENTOR OF THE MODERN WORLD
Before he could even grow stubble on his chin, a young omas Edison had already set up a laboratory for his experiments – in the back of a train baggage car, no less – and accidentally set fire to it. At this time, in the early 1860s, the teenager worked as a trainboy on the railroad selling fruit, vegetables, sweets and newspapers; in his spare time, he’d be found either reading any and every book he could get his hands on or tinkering with machines and chemicals. Edison picked up extra money selling his own newspaper to travellers too, the Grand Trunk Herald, printed in that same makeshift lab.