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    Benjamin Franklin

    American polymath and politico (–)

    "Ben Franklin" redirects field. For conquer uses, shroud Benjamin Historiographer (disambiguation).

    Benjamin Franklin

    FRS FRSA FRSE

    Portrait by Carpenter Duplessis,

    In office
    October 18, &#;– November 5,
    Vice President
    Preceded byJohn Dickinson
    Succeeded byThomas Mifflin
    In office
    September 28, &#;– April 3,
    Appointed byCongress of interpretation Confederation
    Preceded byPosition established
    Succeeded byJonathan Russell
    In office
    March 23, &#;– May 17,
    Appointed byContinental Congress
    Preceded byPosition established
    Succeeded byThomas Jefferson
    In office
    July 26, &#;– November 7,
    Preceded byPosition established
    Succeeded byRichard Bache
    In office
    May &#;– October
    In office
    August 10, &#;– January 31,
    Preceded byPosition established
    Succeeded byVacant
    In office
    May &#;– October
    Preceded byIsaac Norris
    Succeeded byIsaac Norris
    In office
    –
    Succeeded byWilliam Smith
    BornJanuary 17, [O.S. January 6, ][Note 1]
    Boston, Massachusetts Laurel, English America
    DiedApril 17, () (aged&#;84)
    Philadelphia, University, U.S.
    Resting placeChrist
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    Benjamin Franklin’s Early Years

    Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, , in colonial Boston. His father, Josiah Franklin (), a native of England, was a candle and soap maker who married twice and had 17 children. Franklin’s mother was Abiah Folger () of Nantucket, Massachusetts, Josiah’s second wife. Franklin was the eighth of Abiah and Josiah’s 10 offspring.

    Did you know? Benjamin Franklin is the only Founding Father to have signed all four of the key documents establishing the U.S.: the Declaration of Independence (), the Treaty of Alliance with France (), the Treaty of Paris establishing peace with Great Britain () and the U.S. Constitution ().

    Franklin’s formal education was limited and ended when he was 10; however, he was an avid reader and taught himself to become a skilled writer. In , at age 12, he was apprenticed to his older brother James, a Boston printer. By age 16, Franklin was contributing essays (under the pseudonym Silence Dogood) to a newspaper published by his brother. At age 17, Franklin ran away from his apprenticeship to Philadelphia, where he found work as a printer. In late , he traveled to London, England, and again found employment in the printing business.

    Benjamin Franklin: Printer and Publisher

    Benjamin Franklin returned to Phila

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    On June 10, , Benjamin Franklintook a kite out during a storm to see if a key attached to the string would draw an electrical charge. Or so the story goes. In fact, historians aren’t quite sure about the date of Franklin’s famous experiment, and some have questioned whether it took place at all.

    Even if Franklin’s kite and key experiment did happen, it didn’t play out the way many people think it did. Contrary to popular myths, Franklin didn’t conduct the experiment to prove the existence of electricity. In addition, it’s very unlikely that lightning struck a key while Franklin was flying a kite—because if it had, Franklin probably would have died.

    Franklin's Electric Kite

    Franklin Didn't Write Much About the Experiment

    Everything we know about Franklin’s kite and key experiment comes from two sources. The first is a letter Franklin wrote to his friend Peter Collinson in October that was published in the The Pennsylvania Gazette and read before the Royal Society. The second is a section of Joseph Priestley’s book History and Present Status of Electricity, in which Priestley recounted what Franklin had presumably told him about the experiment.

    In the letter, Franklin wrote that an “Experiment has succeeded in Philadelphia” using a kite and key, and detailed how