-
Birth
Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusettes. His father, Josiah Franklin was a candle maker and Ben's mother, Abiah Folger, was his second wife. Ben was the 15th of 17 children and the youngest son. -
Period: to
Life of Benjamin Franklin
All images are Public Domain unless noted on event in timeline.
http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/bio/
http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/index.html
http://glassarmonica.com/
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/static/convention/delegates/franklin.html
http://mentalfloss.com/article/66551/true-story-behind-ben-franklins-lightning-experiment
https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/franklin/franklin-scientist.html -
Silence Dogood letters
When he was 12 years old he was apprenticed to his brother James' print shop.. His brother was not kind to him and made life hard on Ben. James started printing a newspaper called the New England Courat, but would not allow young Ben to write for the paper.
So, Benjamin wrote letters pretending to be a widow named Silence Dogood. The first letter was on April 2, 1722. The letters were a big hit and Benjamin admitted he was Silence Dogood after 16 letters were published. -
Arrives in Philadelphia
James had been arrested because his views went against the Puritan preachers' views. Benjamin continued printing the newspaper while James was in jail and that made James angry. Benjamin ran away and arrived in Philadelphia on October 6, 1723. Benjamin found work apprenticing at a print shop. He was even able to travel to London to buy printing supplies. -
Poor Richard's Almanack
Ben began printing Poor Richard's Almanack under the fake name, Richard Saunders. He printed 26 volumes, the last one in 1758. The almanac contained calendars, weather forecasts, astronomical charts and sayings. -
Kite Experiment
Ben Franklin believed that lightening and electricity were linked. He sent a kite with a key attached into the air during a thunderstorm and was able to conduct electricity (maybe). He had sent a letter to a friend in France who did the same experiment on May 10 with a lightening rod that Franklin had invented.
See here for more information about whether or not Franklin conducted the experiment. -
Premier of Glass Armonica
Benjamin saw a musician play music on a line of glasses when he was living in England in 1761. He wanted to invent a more convenient way of playing such beautiful music. He invented the glass armonica and Marianne Davies performed on it publicly for the first time in early 1762.
Click here to hear the glass armonica being played. -
Period: to
Revolutionary War
The Revolutionary War began with "the shot heard round the world" in 1775 after years of conflict between colonists and the king. Benjamin Franklin acted as a patriot and diplomat during the war. -
Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence and sent it to Ben Franklin to edit. Ben made only a few small changes and congress accepted it on July 4, 1776. Ben and fifty-five other representatives signed the declaration in August. -
Ambassador to France
Benjamin Franklin went to France as ambassador to form an alliance convince the French to send aid to America. He was very popular in France and was able to get the help that the colonists needed to win the war. Her returned home in 1785. -
Period: to
Ambassador to France
Benjamin Franklin was the first American diplomat.
For more information
It was during this time that Joseph Mesmer and Franklin crossed paths. -
Invention of Bifocals
One of Ben Franklin's most famous inventions, the bifocals, are still in use today. Bifocals enable people to see near and far with the same pair of glasses. Image:Benjamin Franklin to George Whatley (ca. 1709–1791), May 23, 1785. Letterpress manuscript. Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (36) Retrieved from https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/franklin/franklin-scientist.html on 6 November 2016. -
Rising Sun Speech at Constitutional Convention
From May 25- Sept 17, 1787 delegates from the newly freed colonies met to write the Constitution. There were many compromises and many delegates were not happy. Ben Franklin, 81 years old and in not well, gave a speech that convinced many delegates to sign the Constitution which was then sent to the states to ratify. -
Death
Ben Franklin died in Philadelphia at the age of 84 with his grandsons by his side. It was in the first year of the new government that he had worked so hard to create. Image: Parker, Michael. "Ben Franklin." Taken on Sept. 8, 2007. Found https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeparker/1393311040 6 November 2016. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
