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Old Photos, Videos: Thomas Edison Would Have Been 166 Today
By
Jen Carlson
Published Feb 11, 2013
Modified Feb 11, 2013
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Feb 11, 2013
Modified Feb 11, 2013
Share
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Thomas Edison would have been 166 years old today if he had invented an immortality machine, but as it stands he died at the very human age of 84 years old. Edison's greatest accomplishments are well-embedded in the brains of many, so we thought we'd celebrate with a look at some of the stuff that doesn't always get prominently featured in the history books.
Edison made the first motion picture adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, filmed in the Bronx in 1910:
There are tons of old New York City videos filmed by the Edison Company, like this one of a journey across the Brooklyn Bridge in 1899:
And here's another one from the Edison Catalog, "One of the 1st camera pans: Fifth Avenue, New York, filmed in 1897 shows 'the famous parade ground of Metropolitan fashion. Exquisitely gowned women, club men, actresses, millionaires pass by on their afternoon stroll.'":
Yes, he killed an elephant on Coney Island. (He wanted to show the danger of alternating currents—he allegedly also killed cats and dogs this way):
Here he is trashing Einstein:
As pointed out last year, he was really into cat boxing...
...and bike tricks:
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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