Thomas Edison marries his first wife in 1871, Mary Stilwell
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Edison had spotted the 16-year-old putting holes in telegraph tape. On December 25, 1871, at the age of 24, Edison married Mary Stilwell, a 16-year-old employee at one of his businesses, whom he had met two months previously. Edison returned to his laboratory after the ceremony on his wedding day to work on the stock ticker. Mary Edison died on August 9, 1884, at the age of 29, of unknown circumstances, either a brain tumour or a morphine overdose.
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