What Do We Know About Thomas Edison?

10. A Mysterious Tattoo

Thomas Edison had a strange tattoo on his left forearm. It consisted of dots arranged in a five-point geometric pattern called a quincunx. The tattoo resembled the dots on a dice cube representing the number five. No one knows why Edison had this tattoo or how he received it.

Thomas Edison did help invent an electric pen in 1875, which much later evolved into a mimeograph machine and then a tattoo needle. It may never be known if he inscribed that tattoo on his arm with a form of his own invention.