Thomas Edison devoted ten years and all of his money to developing the nickel alkaline storage battery at a time when he was almost penniless. Through that period of time, his record and film production company was supporting the storage battery effort. Then one night the terrifying cry of 'Fire' echoed through the film plant. Spontaneous combustion had ignited some chemicals. Within moments all of the packaging compounds, celluloid for records, film, and other flammable goods had gone up in flames. Fire companies from eight towns arrived, but the heat was so intense and the water pressure so low that the fire hoses had no effect. Edison was sixty-seven years old - no age to begin anew. His daughter was frantic, wondering if he was safe, if his spirit was broken, how he would handle such a crisis at his age. She saw him running toward her. He spoke first. He said, 'Where's your mother Go get her. Tell her to get her friends. They'll never see another fire like this as long as they live.' At five-thirty the next morning, with the fire barely under control, he called his employees together and announced, 'We're rebuilding.' One man was told to lease all the machine shops in the area, another to obtain a wrecking crane from the Erie Railroad Company. Then, almost as an afterthought, Edison added, 'Oh, by the way. Anybody know where we can get some money' Virtually everything we now recognize as a Thomas Edison contribution to our lives came after that great disaster.
Quotes about ignited (16 Quotes)
New aerospace technologies coupled with the spirit of competition will not only extend the boundaries of entertainment, but continue the public's appetite for space ignited a year ago when the Ansari X-Prize was awarded.
Coach Dixon always asked us how we would react to adversity. Now, we are facing adversity like never before, but we are going to keep her fire ignited. We are fighters to the end just like coach Dixon.
Rosa Parks' brave and simple act ignited a movement that rewove America's social fabric,
You basically ignited a prairie fire that's taken off across this country. It's not a Republican or a Democratic issue, it's an American issue. We want to save this nation.
If there is a small rocket on top of a big one, and if the big one is jettisoned and the small one is ignited, then their speeds are added.
We're not seeing civil war ignited in Iraq. We're seeing a competent, capable Iraqi government using their security forces to calm the storm.
When I realized when (Stardust) was born, that sort of ignited an interest I had in the late '60s, ... I've had it all my life, having just missed that period.
Today we face adversity like never before. If we promise to keep that flame inside of us, the flame which coach Dixon ignited, then we will never lose. We will be fighters to the end, just as she would have wanted.
He's has successfully ignited the Middle East. He's shooting everyone now. He doesn't really want to settle the current crisis.
We don't know what ignited it, perhaps a leak.
The visit to Turkey showed that he makes decision without consulting anybody, like during the last Cabinet. That has ignited a new dissatisfaction.
The religio-hucksterism surrounding the Schiavo case makes DeMille's Hollywood crusades look like amateur night. This circus is the latest and most egregious in a series of cultural shocks that have followed Election Day 2004, when a fateful exit poll question on 'moral values' ignited a take-no-prisoners political grab by moral zealots.
It was a wonderful experience to come back and get that win and get the next couple of wins afterwards. It ignited players and built confidence. It definitely built more confidence for me.
It appears as if a candle left on a wooden china hutch ignited the top of the hutch and spread to some curtains,
Once Arafat ignited the entire Middle East, now he puts more and more fuel on this situation. He wants the fire to burn and to be as high as possible ... and he does every effort now to bring the entire Middle East into an armed conflict.