John Adams
Search results
Printer and Inventor. Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 17, 1706. He left school at age 10. At age 12 he went to work in his brother’s printing shop. In 1723 Franklin moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He worked there as a printer. His most popular publication was Poor Richard’s Almanack.
- Related Articles
kids. Kids; Students; Scholars; Fundamentals NEW; 7-day free...
- Students
American tennis star Jimmy Connors, born this day in 1952,...
- Related Articles
Learn about Ben Franklin's life, achievements, and inventions as a Founding Father of the United States. Find out how he fought for independence, wrote the Declaration of Independence, and discovered electricity.
Jun 14, 2018 · Learn about the life and achievements of Benjamin Franklin, a scientist, inventor, writer, and statesman. He helped draft the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.
People also ask
When was Benjamin Franklin born?
How did Benjamin Franklin become famous?
How old was Benjamin Franklin when he was a child?
When did Benjamin Franklin Die?
- Early Life and Education
- Newspaperman
- Inventions and Scientific Inquiries
- Musical Endeavors
- Public Life
- Virtue, Religion, and Personal Beliefs
- Slavery
- Interests and Activities
- Death and Legacy
- Franklin on U.S. Postage
Franklin's father, Josiah Franklin, was a tallow chandler, a soap-maker and a candle-maker. Josiah was born at Ecton, Northamptonshire, England on December 23, 1657, the son of Thomas Franklin, a blacksmith-farmer, and Jane White. His mother, Abiah Folger, was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on August 15, 1667, to Peter Folger, a miller and schoo...
In 1728, Franklin set up a printing house in partnership with Hugh Meredith; the following year he became the publisher of The Pennsylvania Gazette, a newspaper in Philadelphia. In 1732, he published the first German-language newspaper in America – Die Philadelphische Zeitung– although it failed after only one year because four other newly founded ...
Franklin was a prodigious inventor. Among his many creations were the lightning rod, glass harmonica (a glass instrument, not to be confused with the metal harmonica), Franklin stove, bifocal glassesand the flexible urinary catheter. He never patented his inventions; in his autobiography he wrote, "... as we enjoy great advantages from the inventio...
Franklin is known to have played the violin, the harp, and the guitar. He also composed music, notably a string quartet in early classical style. He developed a much-improved version of the glass harmonica, in which the glasses rotate on a shaft, with the player's fingers held steady, instead of the other way around; this version soon found its way...
Early steps in Politics
Franklin became involved in Philadelphia politics and rapidly progressed. In October 1748, he was selected as a councilman, in June 1749 he became a Justice of the Peace for Philadelphia, and in 1751 he was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly. On August 10, 1753, Franklin was appointed deputy postmaster-general of British North America, (see below). His most notable service in domestic politics was his reform of the postal system, with mail sent out every week. In 1751, Franklin and Dr. Thom...
Declaration of Independence
By the time Franklin arrived in Philadelphia on May 5, 1775, after his second mission to Great Britain, the American Revolution had begun – with fighting between colonials and British at Lexington and Concord. The New England militia had trapped the main British army in Boston. The Pennsylvania Assembly unanimously chose Franklin as their delegate to the Second Continental Congress. In June 1776, he was appointed a member of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence....
Postmaster
1. Benjamin Franklin First US postage stamp Issue of 1847 Well known as a printer and publisher, Franklin was appointed postmaster of Philadelphia in 1737, holding the office until 1753, when he and publisher William Hunter were named deputy postmasters–general of British North America, the first to hold the office. On July 26, 1775, the Second Continental Congress established the United States Post Office and named Benjamin Franklin as the first United States Postmaster General. Franklin had...
Like the other advocates of republicanism, Franklin emphasized that the new republic could survive only if the people were virtuous. All his life he explored the role of civic and personal virtue, as expressed in Poor Richard's aphorisms. Franklin felt that organized religion was necessary to keep men good to their fellow men, but rarely attended r...
When Franklin was young, African slaverywas common and virtually unchallenged throughout the British colonies. During his lifetime slaves were numerous in Philadelphia. In his later years, as Congress was forced to deal with the issue of slavery, Franklin wrote several essays that stressed the importance of the abolition of slaveryand of the integr...
Musical endeavors
Franklin is known to have played the violin, the harp, and the guitar. He also composed music, notably a string quartet in early classical style. While he was in London, he developed a much-improved version of the glass harmonica, in which the glasses rotate on a shaft, with the player's fingers held steady, instead of the other way around. He worked with the London glassblower Charles James to create it, and instruments based on his mechanical version soon found their way to other parts of E...
Chess
Franklin was an avid chess player. He was playing chess by around 1733, making him the first chess player known by name in the American colonies. His essay on "The Morals of Chess" in Columbian Magazinein December 1786 is the second known writing on chess in America. This essay in praise of chess and prescribing a code of behavior for the game has been widely reprinted and translated. He and a friend used chess as a means of learning the Italian language, which both were studying; the winner...
Benjamin Franklin died from pleuritic attack at his home in Philadelphia on April 17, 1790, at age 84. Approximately 20,000 people attended his funeral. He was interred in Christ Church Burial Groundin Philadelphia. A signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, Franklin is considered one of the Founding Fathers of the Unite...
Benjamin Franklin is a prominent figure in American history comparable to Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln, and as such he has been honored on U.S. postage stamps many times. The image of Franklin, the first Postmaster General of the United States, occurs on the face of U.S. postage more than any other notable American save that of George Washingt...
Benjamin Franklin was the youngest son and the 15th of 17 children. At the age of 10 Franklin began to help in his father’s shop, cutting candlewicks and filling molds. Although he went to school for only two years, he was fond of books and spent much of his spare time reading. He also became an expert swimmer.
Jun 20, 2019 · Learn about Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the US, who was also an inventor, scientist, author, and publisher. Download worksheets with key facts, information, and activities for kids.
Jul 11, 2017 · Learn about ol' Benjamin Franklin! Kids will learn all about Benjamin Franklin and his times. Learn why he was one of the most influential men of his time, a...
- 3 min
- 46.5K
- Homeschool Pop
