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...the fact that Edison "stole" ideas from other people doesn't make him unique. Eli Whitney didn't come up with system of interchangeable parts- a Frenchman beat him to it by about ten years. Henry Ford's engineers were the ones who conceived the assembly line. George Pullman did not invent the Pullman sleeping car. Whether these people "stole" their ideas from others or were simply smart enough to patent it before anyone else did is up for debate, but inventors have a history of doing this sort of thing. This doesn't make Edison unusual.