Try just one more time

'Twas the morning after Christmas in 1907, and Thomas Edison was at work. For context, it was in that year of 1907 that Louis B. Mayer opened his first movie theater, which he would parlay into the studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Edison and his patents and licensees were dominating the movie industry even while his technical interests were moving on to other fields.

On this date in history, December 26, 1907, Thomas Edison wrote to the St. Louis Smelting and Refining Company, asking for a supply of bismuth ore, adding to his stock of more than 8,000 substances. He was a little vague about his "new use for it." We think he was working on batteries, for which he obtained several patents during that part of his career, some of those patents mentioning bismuth as an ingredient. Edison's research laid the groundwork for today's ever-improving batteries, storing the outputs of solar cells and wind turbines, powering electric vehicles and portable electronic devices.

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to?try?just?one more time. — Thomas Edison

Edison famously invented the modern research laboratory. He obtained over 1,000 U.S. patents, and he never bothered to invent anything unless he expected to establish a business based on the patented technology. He lived to the age of 84, and he was active in technology and business until the end of his life.

One hundred fourteen years after Edison wrote to St. Louis for a supply of bismuth, there are still problems to be solved, inventions to be made, businesses to be launched. In what endeavor will you "try just one more time" on this date in history?