BenAccomplishments

Accomplishments

Founding Father Benjamin Franklin was one of a small group of men we call our Founding Fathers. He is the only person to have signed all four of the documents which helped to create the United States: the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Treaty of Alliance, Amity, and Commerce with France (1778), the Treaty of Peace between England, France, and the United States (1782), and the Constitution (1787). He actually helped to write parts of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. No other individual was more involved in the birth of our nation.

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Experiments with Electricity Franklin published his first writings on electricity in 1747; four years later, he published the book __Observations on Electricity__. He performed his famous kite experiment the very next year. He thought that metal would act as a conductor for lightning in a storm. Not really having a laboratory that could contain lightning, he had to improvise. So he did the now famous act of tying a metal key to a kite and flying both high in the air during a lightning storm. Why did he choose the kite? Well, he didn’t want to wait for lightning to strike the ground because that type of experiment could take years to complete, since lightning strikes on the ground are few and far between. So he came up with the kite as a way of getting the metal key up into the air, where lightning was more likely to strike it. He was lucky, of course, that he wasn’t killed by the jolt. Scientists today still use many ideas that Benjamin Franklin advanced beginning with that famous kite flight in June 1752. [|1] [|2] [|3]

Poor Richard’s Almanack //Poor Richard's Almanack // was a yearly almanac published by Benjamin Franklin, who used the name of "Poor Richard" or "Richard Saunders" for this purpose. Many of his famous sayings were first printed in this book. It was sold continually from 1732 to 1758. It was considered a best seller for a book published in the American colonies; he sold 10,000 books per year. [|1] [|2] [|3]

Library In 1731 Franklin established the Library Company of Philadelphia, the oldest lending library in America. [|1]

Fire Department In 1736, Benjamin Franklin started the first fire department ever. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it was called the Union Fire Company.

Mail Delivery As postmaster, Ben had to figure out routes for delivering the mail. He went out riding in his carriage to measure the routes and needed a way to keep track of the distance. He invented a simple odometer and attached it to his carriage.