Thomas Edison received his first U.S. patent in 1869.
The patent covered his electric vote recorder, a machine intended to register legislative votes quickly. U.S. Patent No. 90,646 was issued on June 1, 1869, when Edison was 22 years old.
This early patent was important personally but not commercially. Edison learned that an invention could function successfully yet fail in the marketplace if users did not want to change established practices. Legislators preferred voice voting because it preserved opportunities for discussion and lobbying.
Edison later became one of history’s most prolific inventors, receiving more than 1,000 U.S. patents. His first patent therefore predates the phonograph, his electric-lighting work, and his motion-picture inventions by several years.