This article is a short essay on the historical development of the Department of Physics at Bauman Moscow State Technical University from its very first days in 1832 until now. The role of the great scientists-physicists, who have worked at the department in the 19th-20th centuries and made a significant contribution to the physics course, was outlined. Their main works were briefly described in the article.

Brief review of the main achievements of Thomas Alva Edison was presented; Thomas Edison was an outstanding American inventor, the author of more than 1000 USA patents and several thousand patents of other countries, Honored Academician of USSR Academy of Science. The biography of Thomas Edison and some interesting facts from his life and work were included in the article. The world’s first sound-recording apparatus (phonograph) and carbon microphone created by Edison became an advent of the sound technology development, and his disc-type phonograph with grooves for recording served as a basis for mechanical video-recording half-century later. Therefore, Edison could be considered a founder of the multimedia technology.