Passage 5 Thomas Edison became known as “The Wizard of Menlo Park” in 1877, when he invented the phonograph. Edison’s phonograph allowed people to record sounds and replay them. Though this technology was unimpressive by today’s standards—his recordings would only play few times and the sound quality was poor— back then Edison’s device appeared to be magical. That’s why people called Edison “The Wizard of Menlo Park,” because they suspected him of witchcraft.