Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio, the seventh and last child of Samuel Ogden Edison Jr. and Nancy Matthews Elliott. He was nicknamed 'Al' during his childhood. Little did anyone know that this child, who struggled with formal schooling, would revolutionize the world with his inventions.

At the young age of 12, Edison began working as a newsboy on the Grand Trunk Railway, selling newspapers, candies, and snacks to passengers. Showing early signs of his entrepreneurial drive, he also started his own business selling vegetables and even published his own newspaper, the 'Grand Trunk Herald,' becoming one of the first people to use movable type on a train.