Questions tagged [thomas-edison]
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Did Edison refuse to pay Tesla, saying "You don't understand our American humor"?
The story that Edison scammed Tesla out of his payment for services he was hired for is widely spread on the Internet. The story was featured on this The Oatmeal webcomic, which is excerpted below:
The Wikipedia citations cannot easily be checked…
March Ho
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Did Thomas Edison test 1600 materials for the filament of his light bulb?
From this webpage:
In 1879, after testing more that 1600 materials for the right filament, including coconut fiber, fishing line, and even hairs from a friend's beard, Edison and his workers finally figured out what to use for the…
HDE 226868
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Did Edison publicly electrocute people's pets to present AC current as dangerous?
Kind of related to the question specific to Topsy the elephant, the (somewhat famous) Oatmeal comic about Tesla claims, among other things, that Edison would pay schoolboys to kidnap people's pets, after which he would publicly electrocute…
fstanis
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Did Thomas Edison steal inventions?
This video clip from the Family Guy animated sitcom depicts Thomas Edison stealing the ownership of the inventions of the lightbulb and phonograph.
While the Family Guy is a fictional show, an announcer reinforces the claim:
Look it up. Edison was…
123iamking
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Did Thomas Edison say "There is no substitute for hard work"?
The quote "There is no substitute for hard work" is widely attributed to Thomas Edison, however, is anyone able to locate an original source of the quote?
Cliff
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Did Thomas Edison kill elephant Topsy?
It is largely believed that Edison electrocuted lot of animals to prove that AC current was dangerous. There is a video on youtube that goes to show that Edison killed Topsy.
But in Wikipedia I found one link that refutes that claim. I really want…
minusSeven
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Did Thomas Edison say "If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves"?
Many different sites attribute the sentence "If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves" to Thomas Edison. However, it seems to me that the word "literally" is used in this sentence merely for emphasis, as…
Detached Laconian
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Did Thomas Edison say the "...faith in fiction is a damnable false hope" quote?
Did Thomas Edison say the following quote? :
To those searching for truth—not the truth of dogma and darkness but the truth brought by reason, search, examination, and inquiry, discipline is required. For faith, as well intentioned as it may be,…
Pacerier
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