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Benjamin Franklin (Franklin, Benjamin - Scientist): Benjamin Franklin House
built 815 days ago
Benjamin Franklin (Franklin, Benjamin - Scientist) also shows up in the Retriever categories:
Benjamin Franklin (Franklin, Benjamin - Early) , and more.
Benjamin Franklin (Franklin, Benjamin - Early) , and more.
Franklin spent the last five years of his life in Philadelphia. Even then the old inventor and statesman was not idle. He made a device for getting books down from high shelves. He wrote letters to many friends and political leaders. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison, and many other important Americans came to call at Franklin's house. In his last years the statesman wrote newspaper articles and his famous autobiography.
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By 1785 Franklin belonged to more than twenty scientific societies and was the best known American in Europe. This fame made him a natural choice to represent Pennsylvania in England. While in London, he set up electrical machines in his boarding house and attracted many visitors from all over the continent. With occasional return visits to Philadelphia, he spent most of the years between 1757 and 1774 in England as the voice of the American colonies. Not until Deborah died in 1774 did he go back to Philadelphia with the intention of staying in America. By then his staunch support of the colonies and the developing American Revolution made him an unwelcome guest in England.
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In July 1757 Franklin, with his illegitimate son William and two black slaves, took lodgings with Mrs Margaret Stevenson in Craven Street, in the Strand, London. He was then to stay at that address for the remainder of his time in London. This is the house that is being restored as Benjamin Franklin House from the 1990s, at a cost so far of around £1 million. Franklin’s son became a barrister, then a King’s man and Governor of New Jersey. Thus, when Franklin supported the colonists in the War of Independence, father and son broke off relationships. Franklin did... exchange many letters with Polly Stevenson, daughter of Margaret, on scientific matters and the speaker now has over 130 letters from that correspondence.
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The deep respect Franklin commanded as a scientist, inventor, and diplomat extended to his political career late in life. He was the oldest member of the Second Continental Congress, and in 1776 he traveled to France on a successful mission to convince the French to support the American cause. He remained in Paris for the rest of the war and helped oversee the 1783 peace treaty that recognized America’s independence. In 1785 he returned to Philadelphia and two years later despite poor health, he served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. When he died in 1790, both the House of Representatives of the United States of America and the National Assembly of France declared themselves to be in mourning.
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When a European scientist found a way to store electricity in a special tube, Franklin ordered some of the tubes and set up a laboratory in his house. He conducted many experiments and published a book about electricity. This was one of the most widely reprinted scientific books of the time. The principles he set forth in the book formed the basis for modern electrical theory. In 1752 he sent an account of his experiments to the Royal Society of scientists in London and to French scientists. The foreign scholars were so impressed with his work that he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1756 and awarded its Copley Medal.
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Franklin's lightning rods could soon be found protecting many buildings and homes. The lightning rod constructed on the dome of the State House in Maryland was the largest "Franklin" lightning rod ever attached to a public or private building in Ben's lifetime. It was built in accord with his recommendations and has had only one recorded instance of lightning damage. The pointed lightning rod placed on the State House and other buildings became a symbol of the ingenuity and independence of a young, thriving nation, as well as the intellect and inventiveness of Benjamin Franklin.
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Benjamin Franklin House