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Ben Franklin
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Ben Franklin was the first to discover that lightning is electricity when he experimented with his kite. False. It was his theory, but Franklin wasn’t the first to prove it. He proposed that lightning was electricity in an anonymous publication in 1748. Three years later, he published instructions on how his theory might be proven. Some French experimenters followed them and proved the theory in May 1752. Transatlantic communication being what it was in the 18th Century, Franklin thought he was the first to prove his theory when he carried out his kite experiment in June 1752.
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Ben Franklin 300 Philadelphia is a year-long celebration of Benjamin Franklin's 300th birthday, coordinated and marketed by the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary, the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, the National Constitution Center and CBS 3. Festivities will run from fall 2005 through 2006 and will focus on the world premiere of the international traveling exhibition, Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World at the National Constitution Center. The Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary, a non-profit organization, is supported by a lead grant of $4 million from The Pew Charitable Trusts and established to reaffirm Franklin's enduring legacy in his 300th birthday year. The Tercentenary was founded in 2000 by the American Philosophical Society, The Franklin Institute, the Library Company of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the University of Pennsylvania.
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Ben Franklin knew that his tiny booklet of facts, Poor Richard’s Almanack, could provide a great deal of profit. As a printer, one of his many jobs, Franklin first published almanacs for other writers like Thomas Godfrey and John Jerman. When Franklin realized how much money he could make, he decided to print and publish his own almanac beginning in 1733. At this time, most people bought almanacs because the books were like mini encyclopedias. They contained pieces of information about everyday life that were useful. The almanacs cost two shillings per dozen, which was not a whole lot for each almanac.
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Ben Franklin believed electricity could be harnessed from lightning. In 1752, he devised an experiment to test his theory. Although details of the experiment remain sketchy to this day, Franklin originally wanted to test his theory atop a spire that was to be built on a Philadelphia church. As he thought about it in detail, he realized that his theory could be better tested by using a mobile kite, rather than a stationary spire. Franklin prepared the kite by tying a handkerchief to two crossed sticks of proper length. Extending vertically about a foot from the vertical stick was a wire.
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The famous Ben Franklin invention, the Franklin Stove, was actually called the Pennsylvania Fireplace. It was first marketed in 1742 by Ben's friend, Robert Grace. Ben could have used the stove to make a fortune, but he consistently refused any personal profits from the enterprise. Ben's payment was the satisfaction that this stove warmed the houses of America more safely and effectively than before the stove's invention. He ... was pleased that his invention would allow better ventilation and greater fuel efficiency.
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Franklin invented the odometer. False. There’s no mileage in this one. LeMay says Franklin didn’t do it, and he probably never even used the word, because a similar device of his day was called a way-wiser.
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Ben Franklin