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N0KFQ > TODAY 10.06.07 09:48l 51 Lines 2554 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Jun 10
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1752 : Franklin flies kite during thunderstorm
On this day in 1752, Benjamin Franklin flies a kite during a
thunderstorm and collects a charge in a Leyden jar when the kite
is struck by lightning, enabling him to demonstrate the
electrical nature of lightning. Franklin became interested in
electricity in the mid-1740s, a time when much was still unknown
on the topic, and spent almost a decade conducting electrical
experiments. He coined a number of terms used today, including
battery, conductor and electrician. He also invented the
lightning rod, used to protect buildings and ships.
Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in Boston, to a candle and
soap maker named Josiah Franklin, who fathered 17 children, and
his wife Abiah Folger. Franklin’s formal education ended at age
10 and he went to work as an apprentice to his brother James, a
printer. In 1723, following a dispute with his brother, Franklin
left Boston and ended up in Philadelphia, where he found work as
a printer. Following a brief stint as a printer in London,
Franklin returned to Philadelphia and became a successful
businessman, whose publishing ventures included the Pennsylvania
Gazette and Poor Richard’s Almanack, a collection of homespun
proverbs advocating hard work and honesty in order to get ahead.
The almanac, which Franklin first published in 1733 under the pen
name Richard Saunders, included such wisdom as: "Early to bed,
early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." Whether or
not Franklin followed this advice in his own life, he came to
represent the classic American overachiever. In addition to his
accomplishments in business and science, he is noted for his
numerous civic contributions. Among other things, he developed a
library, insurance company, city hospital and academy in
Philadelphia that would later become the University of
Pennsylvania.
Most significantly, Franklin was one of the founding fathers of
the United States and had a career as a statesman that spanned
four decades. He served as a legislator in Pennsylvania as well
as a diplomat in England and France. He is the only politician to
have signed all four documents fundamental to the creation of the
U.S.: the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Treaty of
Alliance with France (1778), the Treaty of Paris (1783), which
established peace with Great Britain, and the U.S. Constitution
(1787).
Franklin died at age 84 on April 17, 1790, in Philadelphia. He
remains one of the leading figures in U.S. history.
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