film makers moved to california to get away from thomas edison's film monopoly on the east coast.

when thomas edison couldn't get his way - such as getting licensing fees for motion pictures, a technology that he himself stole - he often hired thugs to beat up competitors, their employees, and anyone who used the competitors' products.

the electric light was invented by heinrich goebel, who unsuccessfully tried to sell the idea to thomas edison. when goebel died, edison bought the patent from goebel's widow for a fraction of its value.

thomas edison didn't invent the lightbulb - 3 other fellows beat him to it. but edison was the first to patent and market them as a product.

thomas edison patented more than 1300 inventions - most arrived at by trial and error.

thomas edison had 5 dots tattooed on his left forearm, like the 5 dots that appear on dice. we still don't know why.

thomas edison had a company that pushed all cities to use direct current (dc) for their electricity distribution. george westinghouse, licensing patents that belonged to nikola tesla, was a proponent of alternating current (ac). this opposition began a marketing war.

athough ac could distribute electricity over much greater distances at far less cost, edison made a tour of the country trying to convince people that ac power was dangerous. he did this by publicly electrocuting dogs, cats, horses, cows, and even a circus elephant. he also tried to get the word 'westinghoused' used in place of 'electrocuted'.

despite edison's stunts, westinghouse won.