Thomas Edison was one of America's most famous inventors, best known for creating a working light bulb. He held over a thousand patents for inventions like the phonograph and early motion picture cameras, developed at his Menlo Park laboratory, often called the first industrial research lab. The company he founded to sell his inventions eventually grew into General Electric, still one of the world's largest companies. He liked to say that genius is "one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration."