so-called Edison inventions

The man who children are taught invented hundreds upon hundreds of contraptions that paved the way for the modern era was one of the largest cons of the late 19th - early 20th century. Edison made much of his profits off of stealing other’s devices while suing the actual inventor for stealing his idea.

Examples of so-called Edison inventions include:

The light-bulb/ Electronic light was first created in 1809 by sir Humphrey Davy, by 1844 reliable electronic light had been achieved by Jean Foucault. Edison’s patent was dated 1880.

The motion picture/ The first moving pictures were created by French-American painter Luis Le Prince by 1888, conveniently for Edison, Le Prince disappeared in 1890 after boarding a train along with his patent papers. Edison filmed his first film in 1891

The electro-magnetic voice recorder/ The earliest sound recording device had been created in 1859 by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville. Edison’s recording device was not utilized until 1877

The Battery/ The battery was first invented by Alessandro Volta in 1803, Edison stole the patent as one didn’t exist in the united states. By 1899, the Swedish inventor Waldemar Junger had invented a modern battery. Edison patented his battery in 1901.

He was less of an inventor as he was a businessman. He created the first film trust in North America, controlling the movie industry for over 20 years. He spent much of his time in a grueling war against Nikola Tesla, In which he famously electrocuted an elephant in an attempt to show how dangerous Tesla's AC motor was.

To recap, Thomas Alva Edison was a sly businessman who spent much of his time stealing others' ideas, making money off of his film studio, and winning lawsuits. In short, he was one of the biggest con-men of the 20th century.

Edit: many people have asked me for references, here they are