The Basics:

• Born: January 17, 1706
• Lived in: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Discovered: Positive and negative electrical charges and that lightning is a form of electricity (the famous “kite and key” experiment).
• Invented: Lightning rod, Franklin stove, swimming fins, bifocal lenses for eyeglasses, odometer (which measures distance)
• Died: April 17, 1790

Did you know?

• Benjamin Franklin was the first Postmaster General of the United States.
• He was also a founder of the University of Pennsylvania and started the first public library in America.
• He spent half his life in unofficial retirement.
• Franklin became a hit writer as a teenager.
• He was a reluctant revolutionary.
• His son was a British loyalist.
• Franklin was a fashion icon in France.
• He’s a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
• Franklin designed a musical instrument used by Mozart and Beethoven.
• He only had two years of formal education.
• Franklin created a phonetic alphabet.

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