Thomas Edison at the age of 21 in 1868 earned his first patent for the Electrical Vote Recorder. Famous for inventing the lightbulb and the phonograph, he would accrue 1,093 patents before his death. Beyond being an inventor, Edison initiated the modern research institute. Centered in Menlo Park, New Jersey Edison's laboratories churned out the prototypes for Edison's ideas, earning Edison the nickname "Wizard of Menlo Park." Beginning a long tradition in the corporate world, the inventions of all Edison employees belonged to his company.