The Disney entertainment empire

Today, Walt Disney's animation/motion picture studios and theme parks have developed into a multi-billion dollar television, motion picture, vacation destination and media corporation that carries his name. The Walt Disney Company today owns, among other assets, five vacation resorts, eleven theme parks, two water parks, thirty-nine hotels, eight motion picture studios, six record labels, eleven cable television networks, and one terrestrial television network

Walt Disney also received the Congressional Gold Medal on May 24, 1968 and the Legion d'Honneur in France in 1935.

Science and Inventions

Isaac singer's sewing machine

Isaac Singer was an inventor. He was born poor. He was the eighth child of a German immigrant. At age 12, he ran away from home and became an actor. An actor did not make much money, so Isaac also learned to be a mechanic.

In 1851 Singer was working as a mechanic in Boston. Someone told him he could make a lot of money if he could make a good sewing machine. There were already several kinds of sewing machines. But none of them worked well. In eleven days, Singer made the first sewing machine that really worked.

Singer and two other people started the Singer Company. They made sewing machines. The Singer Company used a great new idea to sell its machines. People did not have to pay all the money at one time. They could pay a little money every month or every week.

For the first time, people could buy ready-made clothes and shoes.

Isaac Singer became a very wealthy man. He stopped work and retired.

GARRET A. MORGAN'S TRAFFIC LIGHT

The next time you stop for a red light, thank the inventor, Garret A. Morgan.

In 1875 Garret A. Morgan was born to a poor African-American family. When he was 14 he left school and went to work. He did not have much education. But he was very imaginative.

In 1901 Morgan invented a special belt for sewing machines. He sold the idea for $150. But this was only the beginning. Morgan invented many things. In 1914 Morgan invented a helmet to protect miners and firefighters from smoke and gas. He won a gold medal for this invention.

The streets were crowded with cars. There were many accidents. Morgan had an idea. What about a light at each street corner? The light tells the cars to stop or go. He invented a timer that automatically changed the light.

Cities all over the country wanted to have Morgan's traffic lights. He couldn’t produce enough traffic lights. In 1920s he sold his invention to the General Electric Company.

McDonald’s

Maurice ("Mac") and Richard McDonald had a dream. They wanted to be movie stars. They went to California from the East Coast. But they could not find jobs in the movies. They decided to open a restaurant in San Bernardino. They wanted to try something new—a fast-food restaurant. They borrowed money and opened a restaurant. They called the restaurant McDonald's. Hamburgers, milk shakes, and French fries were on the menu. That's all. No one thought it would work. But people loved it. The food was simple, fast, and good. Soon, people waited in line outside the restaurant.

A salesman named Ray Kroc from Chicago could not understand why the restaurant needed so many milk-shake machines. So he went to California to see this restaurant. He was amazed. Kroc asked the brothers to open other restaurants like this. He would give them some money for these restaurants. The brothers agreed.

In 1955, Kroc opened two other McDonald's. Soon there were hundreds of McDonald's. The brothers sold McDonald's to Ray Kroc.

Thomas A. Edison

Thomas A. Edison in his laboratory in New Jersey, 1901

Born: February 11, 1847

Died: October 18, 1931

The phonograph and the motion-picture projector were only a few of Thomas Alva Edison's more than 1,000 inventions. One of the most famous inventors in the history of technology, Edison also created the first industrial research laboratory, in Menlo Park, New Jersey, in 1876.