February 11, 2012

If by some remarkable feat of science he was still alive today, Thomas Edison would be blowing out 165 candles. Although the inventor died 80 years ago, his legacy lives on - they still call incandescent bulbs "Edisons", and he's one of the few historical figures who gets compared to Steve Jobs.

But did you know that Edison got his first job as a telegraph operator after saving the daughter of a station agent from an oncoming train? Or that he didn't invite the lightbulb, but instead created the first commercially viable version? Documentarian Jeremiah Warren pulled together a three-minute history of Edison's life and achievements.

Check it out below: