What Do We Know About Thomas Edison?

8. Edison Was Partially Deaf

There are various speculations as to how Thomas Edison lost most of his ability to hear. Sometimes he described himself as being deaf; however he was not completely unable to hear. Some of the explanations for Edison's hearing loss can be attributed to all or just a few of the following reasons:

1. When he was 14, he came down with scarlet fever.
2. A couple of years later, he suffered a blow to his head from an angry train conductor after he set a train car on fire.
3. Genetics may be the cause of his hearing loss, as both his father and son were hard of hearing.
4. Another story has Edison being picked up by his ears to prevent him from falling off a train.