When Thomas Edison was born in the small town of Milan, Ohio, in 1847, America was just beginning its great _____1______ development. The time in which he lived was an age of invention, filled with human and _____2______adventures, and Edison became the hero of that age. As a boy, Edison was not a good student. His parents took him out of school and his mother taught him at home, where his great _____3______ and desire to experiment often got him into trouble. When he was ten, Edison built his own chemistry laboratory. He sold sandwiches and newspapers on the local trains in order to earn money to buy supplies for his laboratory. His parents became _____4______, more or less, to his experiments and the explosions which sometimes shook the house. Edison’s work as a sales boy with the railroad introduced him to the telegraph and with a friend, he built his own telegraph set. He taught himself the Morse telegraphic code and hoped for the chance to become a _____5______ telegraph operator. A stroke of luck and Edison's quick thinking soon provided the opportunity. One day, as young Edison stood waiting for a train to arrive, he saw the station master's sot wander into the track of an _____6______ train. Edison rushed out and carried the boy to safety. The thankful station master offered to teach Edison railway telegraphy. Afterwards, in 1863, he became tan expert telegraph operator and left home to work in various cities. Six years later, in 1869, Edison arrived in New York City, poor and in _____7______. He went to work with a telegraph company. It was there that he became interested in the uses of electricity. At that time electricity was still in the experimental stages, and Edison hoped to invent new ways to use it for the benefit of people. As he once said: "My philosophy of life is work. I want to bring out the secrets of, nature and _____8______ them for the happiness of man. I know of no better service to render for the short time we are in this world." The same year, when he was only 22 years old, Edison invented an _____9______ ticker-tape machine which could better report the prices on the New York Market. The ticker-tape machine was successful, and Edison decided to leave his job and _____10______ wholly on inventing. When the president of the telegraph company asked how much they owed him for his invention, Edison was ready to accept only $3,000. Cautiously he said: "Suppose you make me an offer."