In 1889, the company that Thomas A. Edison founded joined with two others to form what would become one of the most storied conglomerates in the United States. Called Edison General Electric, the company mirrored the growth of industrial America from the steam age to the age of electricity and beyond.
During World War II, General Electric supplied the United States military with executives and equipment manufacturing. In the postwar boom, G.E. sold appliances that helped free America’s housewives from the kitchen.
Image: Thomas Edison’s incandescent lamp, which used carbonized bamboo for the filament.Credit Associated Press
