Thomas Alva Edison had done many extraordinary things while he was alive and throughout his career. It all started when he was very young, when he started inventing. While he was significant for so many reasons, the one I think is the most important would have to be that he was the first person to finalize and invent the light bulb. It may seem a little old, but there's something special about it. It is special because many people have tried to create light and failed, Thomas Edison was the first to make the light bulb. Thomas is very important and there are many facts about him that I found interesting to know and you should know the facts. Thomas Edison grew up in the city of Port Huron, Michigan. His parents were NancyEdison and Samuel Edison. Thomas Alva Edison was born to Sam and Nancy on February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio. Known as "Al" in his youth, he was the youngest of seven children, four of whom survived to adulthood. "His mother, Nancy, had been a school teacher; his father, Samuel, was a Canadian politician exiled from his country. (Biography of Thomas AlvaEdison, para2)." Thomas tended to be in poor health as a young man. Having better fortune, Sam Edison moved his family to Port Huron, Michigan in 1854, where he worked in the lumber business. Around the age of twelve, Thomas lost almost all of his hearing. There are several theories as to what caused his hearing loss. Some attribute it to the after-effects of scarlet fever he had had as a child. Others blame a driver who slapped his ears after Thomas caused a fire in Lee's trunk page 2, an accident he says never happened. Edison himself blamed it on an accident in which he was grabbed by the ears and taken onto a train. He failed... halfway through the paper... to find a good substitute, eventually finding a type of goldenrod grass that could produce enough rubber to be viable. Edison was still working on it at the time of his death. Thomas Alva Edison was an intelligent inventor and an important man in history. Edison was eighty years old and suffered from numerous illnesses. In August 1931 Edison collapsed in Glenmont. Edison steadily declined until at 3:21 am on October 18, 1931 the great man died. Edison certainly made the best of his life and did many extraordinary things. Works Cited "Thomas Edison". . A+E Networks, April 30, 2009. Web. April 30, 2014. www.history.com/topics/inventions/thomas-edison>. . "Famous scientists." Thomas Alva edison. Np, 2013. Web. 26 February 2014. www.famousscientists.org/thomas-alva-edison/>. . "Thomas Alva Edison." The papers of Thomas Edison. Rutgers, 2012. Web. February 27 2014. < >.