Quiz: What was Thomas Edison's first PATENTED invention?

[markses]

And please, no google!

[On the Road]

1. I Think it Was an Improvement in Telegraph Signaling

an early form of multiplexing or effectively increasing bandwidth. Something like that.

Edison was a telegraph operator. He even proposed to his girfriend by tapping morse code on her arm.

[markses]

3. His first invention was certainly an improvement in telegraphy

(Dual and "Quadraplexing").

But he didn't receive a patent on it.

His first PATENTED invention is a bit more interesting.

[Fovea]

2. Was it a telegraph recorder?

I seem to remember that it had something to do with telegraphy.

[markses]

4. Edit: Not obviously a telegraphy invention

Which is to say, you wouldn't think of it as something to do with telegraphy strictly speaking.

[1monster]

5. I googled! My bad!

Maybe you think we should perhaps hold a seance and bring the old boy back to help out this year? :evilgrin:

[markses]

7. Ayup

Interesting, huh? Now don't ruin it for the others. :-)

As for the seance, General Electric never dies...

[On the Road]

9. Oh! Now I Have a Clue

but I can't say anything. Never would have remembered that.

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. a mechanical voting thingamabob - the booth? The lever?

Don't know. But a voting machine/system of some sort, yes?

[DieboldMustDie]

23. Electrographic Vote-Recorder 1868 (Patent # 90,646)

http://www.israelpr.com/edison.html

[proud patriot]

8. Here's my guess, phonograph

:shrug:

[markses]

10. Sorry

Edison had probably hundreds of patents by the time his crew invented the phonograph.

[proud patriot]

30. Well Shucks

:shrug:

[amerikat]

11. stock ticker?

[TheWizardOfMudd]

12. Was it one of these?

[markses]

13. As necessity is the - ahem - mother of invention, and Edison had a

schlong the size of west Philadelphia, I would have to say no. :-)

[TheWizardOfMudd]

16. Perhaps

But Edison never was one to think only of himself. ;)

[freetobegay]

14. Being an advid visitor to Greenfield village.

I know the Answer!

[Nevernose]

15. That one time, when he invented that thing, that does that stuff?

You know what I'm talking about?

[markses]

17. Correct!

I do know what you're talking about. Congratulations, quiz winner!

[Nevernose]

26. For once, I didn't even Google

:bounce: :beer: :headbang: :freak:

[salvorhardin]

18. I know! I know!

Bev Harris might know too.

[markses]

19. Subtle

:eyes: :-)

[DieboldMustDie]

20. Telegraph repeater?

:shrug:

Now I'll go see if I'm correct. ;)

[DieboldMustDie]

21. Crap!

That was his tenth. :(

[DieboldMustDie]

25. Aha! I feel vindicated... well, sort of.

"At age 16, after working in a variety of telegraph offices, where he performed numerous "moonlight" experiments, he finally came up with his first authentic invention. Called an "automatic repeater," it transmitted telegraph signals between unmanned stations, allowing virtually anyone to easily and accurately translate code at their own speed and convenience. Curiously, he never patented the initial version of this idea."

http://www.thomasedison.com/biog.htm

[Flaxbee]

22. Edison was an asshole who didn't deserve to lick Tesla's boots!

Edison "invented" the electric chair to frighten people away from Tesla's AC use of electricity (thinking that his - Edison's - DC was oh-so-superior) and he had a horse and multiple dogs electrocuted to show that AC was more dangerous... Edison would pay children 25 cents for each stray dog they could bring him. Then he held press conferences and electrocuted the dogs at public gatherings in a desperate attempt to frighten people away from using AC. He claimed DC could not kill...but in truth, DC could also kill.

Edison felt it was necessary to experiment killing animals before he could guarantee his electric chair would kill efficiently.

And guess what? We use AC today, yet frigging electric companies name themselves after Edison! D'oh!

[amerikat]

24. Another Telsa fan here

[markses]

28. You'll get no argument here

Edison was certainly an asshole, and Tesla is infinitely more interesting.

[Mnemosyne]

32. HAARP?

[Spirochete]

27. Stock ticker

wasn't it?

[markses]

29. Rabrrrr WINS!

Very early on

[Mnemosyne]

31. Whatever it was, he probably stole it from Nickolai Tesla. n/t