Crazy Inventions Prove Useful

As we all know, Benjamin Franklin had a tremendous impact on the way American lives are lived, but his inventions really solidified his legacy as a worldwide leader and innovator. Benjamin Franklin did not invent the library, but helped America get their first one. Benjamin once flew a kite in an electric thunderstorm and made various important findings about electricity. He developed the first lightning rod which helps protect buildings and ships from damage caused by lightning.

They say that neccessity is the mother of all inventions, so his poor eyesight aided him in inventing the first set of bifocals. He basically took two pairs of glasses and put them together so he could see near and far. The is widely considered "The Father of the Bifocals". We also owe him some respect for the odemeter, which is a way to measure distance. When he was delivering mail, Ben wanted to keep track of the distance, so he found a way to make that work out for him. I believe that it was his curiousty and his high intelligence that enabled him to create.

The man we know as Benjamin Franklin was a man of many dimensions and depth. High intelligence and natural curiosuty makes him a worldwide icon in the sense that he was not bound to the limits of his surroundings, but bound by the limitless power of the mind. A latter aged Renaissance Man. Thank you for listening.

-Eddie


Picture citation: http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/inventor/inline/inventor.gif


Works Cited: http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/inventor/inventor.html

Mad Scientist and the Freemasons

The Pennsylvania Gazette was the next major project for Benjamin Franklin. The Gazette was a forum in which people within his community could vent out about problems with laws and things that agitated them. It was something that Ben had started off, so it was a brief return to his former job. By this time, Franklin had endured quite a bit of social success. He was highly regarded and was a sort of renaissance man. During that time, the free masons reached out and he joined them in 1731. It only took him 3 years to become a grand master in the free masons society.

Benjamin Franklin wrote and published the book Poor Richard's Almanack in 1733 under the pseudonym Richard Saunders. The popular book is famous for its timeless quotes such as, "A penny saved is twopence dear" and so forth. Along with being a freemason, publisher, businessman statesmen, scientist, he was a well respected author who could publish his books at will.

Benjamin Franklin, the scientist had some very important findings in his inventions. To find out more about Benjamin Franklin, tune in next week for the last installment of Benjamin Franklin and his many sides.


Picture Citation: www.freemasons-freemasonry.com

Works Cited:Sparks, Jared (1856), "The Life of Benjamin Franklin: Containing the Autobiography with Notes and a Continuation", Boston: Whittemore, Niles and Hall.

Quote pulled from Poor Richards Almanack by Benjamin Franklin.

Junto and the Presses

Once in Philadelphia, Benjamin really started trying to apply himself but it was not an easy road for him. He was working at a few printing shops around the area, but was not satisfied. He wanted more than his equipment could handle, so he was eventually shipped overseas by Pennsylvania Governor Sir William Keith to London to get the necessary equipment needed to make another newspaper in Philadelphia. Once he was ready to buy the equipment, Keith backed out of being his backer, so Ben was stuck in England and found work at another print shop.

After about a year of living abroad, Benjamin returned to Philadelphia and founded Junto, a group of "like minded aspiring artisans and tradesmen who hoped to improve themselves while they improved their community", in his own words. It was basically a discussion group for those within the community that talked about important issues that affected them on a daily basis. Plus, they would talk about books they have read and told stories. Junto evolved into the first American Library, and we have Benjamin Franklin to thank for this. See what happens next week, as we learn more about this man and his accomplishments.


Picture Citation: http://www.thechemistrynerd.com/benfranklin/BenjaminFranklinDiscoversElectricity.jpg
http://siarchives.si.edu/history/exhibits/thisday/april/17539-b.jpg

Works Cited: Franklin, Benjamin & Skouser, Mark. The Compleated Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. New York, New York: Viking Press,1938

Junto quote off page 38.

Ben Franklin: An Introduction

We all have seen his face on the one hundred dollar bill. We have heard about the stories of Benjamin Franklin flying a kite in the middle of a thunderstorm. 200 years after his death, he is still an American symbol of human intellect, and ingenuity. The former ambassador to France is someone I look up to and draw inspiration from. This is the 1st of 4 blogs dedicated to the man and his achievements. Let us begin.......

It all began on January 17, 1706 in an English colony called Boston, Massachusetts. His parents, Joesiah, and Abiah were of Puritan faith, which was the foundation of Benjamin's youth. His mother was from the Folger's Coffee estate, but that did not mean that they were well off. Josiah was a candle and soap maker and vendor, and apprenticed Benjamin at an early age.

Ben went to Latin school and eventually flunked. It appears as if Benjamin was not a serious student and was not open his parent's idea of going to the clergy and becoming a part of the church. Instead at 17 years of age, he ran off to Pennsylvania and start fresh in the city of Philadelphia. What did he do once he got there? Find out next week when part 2 of this trilogy plus one continues.


Picture Citation:

http://www.nyu.edu/public.affairs/images/photos/uploads/Ben-Franklin-2.jpg

Works Cited: Franklin, Benjamin, eds. The Way to Wealth, The Autobiography. New York, New York. W.W. Norton Anthology of American Literature. 2007.