(images by Leonard DeGraaf courtesy of nps.gov)

When you flip a light switch, pick up your phone or watch a movie, it is thanks to the genius and vision of Thomas Edison. And now you can visit Edison's workshop, the place where the first sound was recorded and the light bulb was perfected.

WNYC's Soterios Johnson took a tour of the newly renovated, $13 million dollar Thomas Edison National Historic Park, in West Orange, NJ and has this report:

Here is one of Edison's original phonograph recordings, Barbara Allen, by Frank Luther and his Pards, recorded on August 15, 1928.

More recordings are available here. And audiophiles may also appreciate Thomas Edison's Attic, a program on WFMU dedicated to the inventor's phonograph recordings.