What year did Thomas Edison became an inventor?

Answer 1

At age 15, Edison's began work as a telegraph operator, passing on telegraph messages. He chose the late-night shift -- which involved very little actual messaging -- because the free time allowed him to read and experiment. Company rules required that, once an hour, an operator send a code down the line to show he was present and alert. One of Edison's first inventions was a clock that would tap out the code on the hour, allowing him to read and experiment without being interrupted by his job! Thus, his first invention would have been at about the age of 16.

Edison's first PATENT was in 1869, at age 22: a device that would allow all votes in a legislature to be recorded almost immediately, instead of spending several minutes of recording voice votes. Edison found out that nobody wanted a quick record of votes; legislators preferred to spend these minutes making last minute deals. He said that this epiphany made him resolve to only invent things that people actually wanted.