Could a boy who struggled to learn in school grow up to be a man who changed the world? The answer to that question is—yes. For that is what Thomas Edison did. As a boy, Thomas sold newspapers on the Grand Trunk Railroad, while also conducting experiments. Overtime he became an inventor extraordinaire! On September 4, 1882, a switch was pulled and lights shone over one square mile of New York City. That event changed our way of life forever.