Franklin

= Benjamin Franklin =



Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706. He died on April 17, 1790. Benjamin grew up in Boston Massachusetts. He came from a poor family and was the tenth son of 17 children. His father, Josiah Franklin, was a soap maker. His mother was Abiah Folger. Benjamin's father wanted him to enter into the clergy, but he could only afford to send him to school for one year. Benjamin had to teach himself how to read, write, and do arithmetic. His father made him apprentice his brother as a printer.

Accomplishments Inventions
 * experimenter
 * scientist
 * printer
 * writer
 * publisher
 * statesman
 * philosopher
 * musician
 * economist
 * diplomat
 * one of the founding fathers of our country
 * on the $100 bill
 * published Poor Richard's Almanac
 * Franklin Stove- a stove that heated homes more efficiently
 * swim fins
 * glass armonica (a musical instrument)
 * bifocals
 * lightning rod
 * flexible urinary catheter
 * odometer
 * long arm

Discoveries Experiments
 * electrical terms
 * battery
 * charge
 * condenser
 * conductor
 * plus
 * minus
 * positively
 * negativly
 * armature
 * Benjamin Franklin's most famous experiment was discovering electricity. Before he started his experiment, he created the "Single Fluid Theory." He thought electricity consisted of an element he called electric fire and it was a fluid like a liquid. Benjamin stood out in the middle of a field during a thunderstorm. He flew a kite with a key attached to it. When the lightning hit the kite he discovered that it was a flow of electrical energy through the atmosphere.
 * Benjamin also experimented with the lighting rod he invented. He put an iron rod on the top of his house. The rod was connected to a bell and a second bell was connected to a ground wire. During a thunderstorm, when lightning hit the rod, it drew it down into his house. The bells would ring and enough sparks would fly off to illuminate his house.

back [|Sources]