Thomas Edison can be considered a great American because he invented the phonograph. "Edison began to investigate ways in which a voice could not only be transmitted over a wire, but recorded as well." (Daniels) The phonograph was a device that was used for recording and reproduction of sound recordings. In June of 1887 Edison and a few of his assistants accidentally scratched grooves in to a disc. When the disc was played, sound came from it. This motivated Edison to draw the invention of the phonograph for his assistants to begin to build it. The phonograph was created in December 1877. "In December of 1877, Edison developed a method for recording sound: the phonograph. Though not commercially viable for another decade, the invention brought him worldwide fame." (A&E Networks) This shows that Edison was a great American because he invented a great way to record sound. "When the chaos had settled down from the phonograph, Edison turned to a project that had long intrigued him, the creation of the electric light." (Daniels)