History

How many patents did Thomas Edison hold by the time he died?

United States Library of Congress

Did Edison actually invent the lightbulb?

I honestly don't care. The dude started working on railroads and making a decent salary at the age of 13, so I give him, at the very least, the fact that he made lightbulbs consumer-friendly — and we wouldn't have had electric lighting at the scale we did and do without him.

In other words, pointing out all the things Edison didn't do feels kind of silly when you're comparing it to all the things he DID do. And hey, he was able to secure the patents, so to the winner goes the spoils.

Of all his inventions, and as the poster boy for inventors, how many U.S. patents did Edison hold by the time he died?

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