Skip to main content
Back to Show
American Experience

Edison, Chapter 1

By the 1920s, Thomas Edison was a prolific inventor and quite possibly the most famous man in the world. But before he invented the phonograph, the lightbulb or the kinetoscope, he was a young boy working as a telegraph operator. He soon began tinkering with the telegraphic equipment and experimenting with his own improvements. "Edison" premieres January 27 on American Experience PBS.

Support Provided By
Season
The Eugenics Crusade
1:53:12
The Eugenics Crusade tells the story of the campaign to breed a “better” American race,
The Gilded Age
1:52:46
The Gilded Age: Full Film
Rachel Carson
1:53:15
The woman whose groundbreaking books revolutionized our relationship to the natural world.
The Perfect Crime
52:03
After attempting to commit the perfect crime, would two boys get the death penalty?
stonewall-uprising-preview
1:20:50
The Stonewall riots marked a major turning point in the modern gay civil rights movement.
My Lai
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:21
The 1968 My Lai massacre and its subsequent cover-up.
The Polio Crusade
52:01
In the 1950's a Polio outbreak swept the U.S., devastating communities nationwide.
The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:49:38
The man behind the atomic bomb is put on trial for suspected communist ties in 1954.
Victory in the Pacific
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:49:22
The final months of WWII from the vantage points of both the Japanese and the Americans.
The Presidents
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:52:37
Part of the award-winning "The Presidents" collection.
The Presidents: Reagan (Part 2)
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:53:50
Ronald Reagan left the White House one of the most popular presidents of the 20th century.
The Presidents: Reagan (Part 1)
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:50:17
A biography from American Experience's collection of presidential portraits.
Active loading indicator