1868 - Thomas Edison applies for his first patent, the electric vote recorder.

In October 1868, while working in Boston, Thomas Edison obtained his first patent for an invention called the “electrographic vote recorder”. This device allowed legislators to cast instant votes by tapping one of two switches—either signifying a “yes” or a “no” vote. The information was then transmitted via electric current to a main recorder, which tallied the votes into separate columns1. Unfortunately, this invention didn’t gain much interest from Congress, but it marked the beginning of Edison’s prolific career as an inventor.