General Electric was formed in 1892 by merging Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric.
The merger brought together companies connected to Thomas Edison’s electrical businesses and Charles Coffin’s Thomson-Houston organization. The resulting company became one of the foundational industrial corporations of the modern electrical age.
General Electric operated across many sectors, including power generation, aviation, medical equipment, finance, and appliances. Its early history is sometimes simplified as the creation of an Edison company, but the 1892 corporation resulted specifically from the combination of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric.
Over time, GE became known for research and engineering as well as manufacturing. Its famous research laboratory in Schenectady, New York, opened in 1900 and contributed to innovations in electricity, materials, and communications.