In 1887, Thomas Edison built an industrial research laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, which was the main research laboratory for the Edison lighting companies. Edison spent most of his time in the main laboratory where he oversaw the development of lighting technology and power systems. He perfected the phonograph and developed the motion picture camera and the alkaline battery. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Over the next 10 years, Thomas grew from an inventor into an industrialist and business manager. The West Orange laboratory was too large and difficult for one man to manage, so Edison realized that he was not as successful as before in his previous role. Thomas Edison saw that much of the future development and refinement of his inventions was very much organized and accomplished by a group of mathematicians and scientists. He worked in small, unstructured environments with much help from assistants and openly expressed his disdain for academia and business operations. During the year 1890, Edison built a magnetic iron ore processing plant in northern New Jersey that became a commercial failure. Subsequently, he was able to recover the process into a better method by which he produced cement. On April 23, 1896, Thomas Edison was announced as the first person to screen a motion picture. Dove held the world's first motion screening at Koster & Bial's Music Hall in New York City. When the automotive industry began to expand, Thomas worked on developing a suitable storage battery that could provide power to an electric car. Although the gasoline engine won, Edison still decided to design a battery for the automatic starting of the Model T for his friend and admirer Henry Ford 1912. The system was used extensively in the automotive industry for decades (10 years +) During During World War I, the United States government asked inventor Thomas Edison to head the Naval Consulting Board. The Naval Consulting Board tested the inventions submitted for military use. Thomas has worked on a couple of projects, including on underwater detectors and weapons tracking techniques. Because of his moral indignation towards violence, he has made it very clear that he will work on defensive weapons. He later noted, "I am proud of the fact that I never invented weapons to kill." In 1920, Thomas Edison was about 80 years old. He and his second wife named Mina spent most of their time at the winter retreat in Fort Myers, Florida. In Florida, his friendship with Henry Ford grew and so he continued to work on multiple projects ranging from electric trains to finding a domestic source for a natural rubber. Patents Please note: This is just a sample. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay During his lifetime, Thomas received 1,093 U.S. patents and filed another 500-600 that were unsuccessful or abandoned. He took out his first patent for his electrographic vote recorder on October 13, 1868 when he was only 21 years old. Edison's last patent was for an apparatus for holding objects during electroplating.