Benjamin FranklinGreat American scientist,

inventor, and writer

• Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706 in Boston and was the 15th of 17 children!

• For a time, he worked as a printer for his brother James where he began to write letters under the name Silence Dogood

• At only 17, he ran away to Philadelphia where he started his own printing business . He even printed laws and other important documents for the assembly.

• During his life he traveled to many places and discovered many things. Unfortunately, not everyone accepted his curious nature. Some disagreed with his ventures, believing the nature of things can only be explained by religious means.

Benjamin Franklin: Fun Facts

• His face also appears on the $100 dollar bill!!

Benjamin Franklin as a ScientistBenjamin Franklin made many discoveries about the nature of electricity including: • That electricity was made

up of one common element he called electric fire

• That electricity was like a fluid, it flowed from one object to another and was never destroyed

• That metal was a good conductor of electricity (meaning it attracts electricity)

• Video: Benjamin Franklin Experiments with Electricity

Benjamin Franklin as an InventorBenjamin Franklin made many more discoveries which led to inventions like: • The lightening rod• Bifocals• The Franklin Stove• Glass Armonica• Swim Fins• Don’t know what these

inventions are? Click on “What Is It?” to find out!

• Video: Benjamin Franklin's Lightening Rod

Benjamin Franklin as a WriterBenjamin Franklin loved to write! He wrote things like: • The Pennsylvania Gazette• Poor Richard’s Almanac

• He wrote about funny things, he wrote about his inventions and discoveries, and more

• He also wrote one of the most important documents in the history of the United States. The Declaration of Independence!!

• Don’t know what Poor Richard’s Almanac is? Click on “What Is It?” to find out!

• Video: Benjamin Franklin and the Printing Press

• The lightening rod: a metal point attached to the roof of houses that saved towns from catching on fire during storms

• Bifocals: like eye glasses but with a top half for seeing far away and a bottom half for reading.

• The Franklin Stove: it kept heat in, sent ashes and smoke out, and used less wood!

• Glass Armonica: a mechanized (produced by a machine) instrument that produced the same sound as wine glasses filled with different amounts of liquid.

• Swim Fins: like the ones you wear on your feet but made for your hands!

• Poor Richard’s Almanac: printed annually, and contained things like weather reports, recipes, predictions and homilies.

What Is It?