GE co-founder Elihu Thomson discusses growing up in the 1860's in unearthed video
90 years later people are seeing him on a device he never thought possible.

A photo of a lightbulb and a portrait of Elihu Thomson
We can read all the history books in the world, and still, there’s something magical about hearing about a time period firsthand, from someone who actually lived in it. Especially since, depending on how far back you go, it can be incredibly rare.
Take for instance this video interview, originally filmed in 1932 (wow), which was colorized and shared to Youtube by the ‘Life in the 1800s’ Channel. It features Elihu Thomson, an English-America engineer and inventor who helped bring mainstream electricity to America.
But this video isn’t about his career, but about his childhood memories while living in Philadelphia in the 1860s.
Much of the conversation revolved around Thomson’s first electrical experiments. Apparently, the young, precious lad was “forced out of high school” when he was only 11, and teachers recommended that he use his spare two years to “keep away from the books and to develop physically.”
That, however, didn’t fly with preteen Thomson, who said “if you do that you might as well kill me now, because I’ve got to have my books.” Hey, at least he wasn’t saying that about an iPad.
Thomson essentially homeschooled himself for a couple of years, learning about chemistry and electrical experiments, and even performing a few with his father, who was also scientifically minded. Thomson even recalls at one time “getting even” with his dear old dad by giving him a shock with a handmade leyden jar, or as he called them, "lightening jars.”
Discovery of the Leyden jar in van Musschenbroek's labPhoto credit: Canva
Overall it’s a brief interview, but people found it remarkable nonetheless. It seemed to feel particularly meta how someone clearly passionate about science would be even more floored to see today's technology.
“Imagine sitting there, talking about your life, never knowing that in 90 years a bunch of people will be listening to you from a device you would never believe could ever be possible.”
“This guy witnessed the invention of telegraph, telephone, trains, steamboats, planes, tanks, automatic weapons, automobiles, radio, cinema and probably heard some news about a television device before dying. Amazing.”
People were also amazed by how many groundbreaking firs’ts Thomson must have seen, which are just common, everyday occurrences now.
“This man lived through the civil war, saw the first lightbulb, a telephone call, the radio and then silent and talking films, horses being replaced by cars. Everything we take for granted today. He saw them first. Amazing.”
One person even noted, “It's amazing how much of a difference it makes having this old black and white footage colourised. It just makes it that much more real, and gives a feeling that this wasn't so long ago.”
Lastly, someone argued that Thomson was a prime example of why “fostering your child's creativity and knowledge is so important.” After all, Thomson would develop around 700 patents, and later help found the General Electric company, thanks in no small part support he received from his dad helped him discover his talents as an engineer. Guess that doesn’t change no matter what time period you’re born into.
Watch below:
- YouTubewww.youtube.com