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Benjamin Franklin was born in 1706 in Boston. He was the 10th son of a soap and candle maker.
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Franklin was an avid swimmer. At the age of 11 he invented swim fins which were attached to one's hands.
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In Philadelphia he rose rapidly in the printing industry. He published "The Pennsylvania Gazette." His most successful literary venture was the annual "Poor Richard's Almanac."
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Deborah gave him a son and daughter. Their son died at age four of smallpox. Benjamin Franklin also had children with another nameless woman out of wedlock.
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Benjamin Franklin created the Union Fire Company which was one of the first volunteer firefighting companies in America.
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Ben Franklin expanded into entrepreneurship with the invention of the Franklin stove.
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The American Philocophical Society helped scientific men discuss their discoveries and theories.
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Franklin was curious as to how far he was traveling by carriage. The device was attached near the wheels of the carriage.
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Ben Franklin conducted the famous kite- and -key experiment after some of his theories on electricity were published in England. His electrical experiments led to his invention of the lightning rod.
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Franklin invented the flexible urinary catheter to help his brother John who suffered from kidney stones.
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Benjamin Franklin was appointed joint deputy postmaster general of North America. His most notable service in domestic politics was his reform of the postal system, with mail sent out every week.
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This meeting of several colonies had been requested by the Board ofTrade in England to improve relations with the Indians and defense against the French.
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Benjamin Franklin created a mechanized version and called it the Armonica (this is a glass instrument). In 1762 it was played by Marianne Davies.
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The Second Continental Congress established the United States Post Office and named Benjamin Franklin as the first US Postmaster General.
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Franklin was appointed a member of the committee of five that drafted the Declaration of Independence.
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Benjamin Franklin, John Jay and John Adams negotiated the Treaty of Paris, which ended the War for Independence.
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Franklin suffered from presbyopia. The bifocals helped him see better.
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Franklin loved books and found reaching books on the high shelves was difficult. He inented the Long Arm which was a wooden pole with a grasping claw at the end.
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Benjamin Franklin was elected as first president of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery.
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Ben Franklin died in Philadelphia at the age of 84.
