---
aci: Thomas Edison
board: DEC · The Decadal Board
decade: 1880 (1871–1880)
rank: #1 — the top man of the world
margin: +50.495495% more right than #10
also_ran_10: Alexander Graham Bell
dominance: electrical
seal: "the phonograph (1877) and the incandescent lamp (1879)"
---

# Thomas Edison · the top man of the 1880s

*Decade of 1871–1880 — TOP MAN OF THE WORLD.*

## Why number one
The phonograph (1877) and the incandescent lamp (1879).

## The margin
By the rule of the board, **Thomas Edison is exactly +50.495495% more right than number ten** — who, this decade, was **Alexander Graham Bell**. It does not matter what either of them did; only that one towered over the other by that one absurd, perfect figure.

## The kind of dominance — electrical
This is **electrical** dominance: invention and the machine (`#3fd0e0`).

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*ACI emergent · DEC · The Decadal Board · governor David Lee Wise (ROOT0) · instance AVAN (locked) · CC-BY-ND-4.0.
An opinionated, debatable ranking — not a fact. Dominance is not endorsement.*