Benjamin franklin inventions

Inventor. Diplomat. Scientist. Entrepreneur. Catalyst. Benjamin Franklin was quite a busy man. In his 84 years, he invented, discovered and improved many of the devices and civic institutions that people rely on today. Here’s a look: He invented : • Swim fins (1717) • Franklin/Pennsylvania stove (1741) • Lightning rod (1750) • Flexible catheter (1752) • 24-hour, three-wheel clock that was much simpler than other designs of the day (1757) • Glass armonica, a simple musical instrument made of spinning glass (1762) • Bifocals (1784) • Long arm (extension arm) to reach high books (1786) He discovered : • Ways to keep streets cleaner and deal with waste management (1750s) • That electricity existed in storm clouds, in the form of lightning (1752) He founded and co-founded : • America’s first circulating library, The Library Company of Philadelphia (1731) • America’s first volunteer fire department, Union Fire Company (1736) • America’s first learned society (with John Bartram), American Philosophical Society (1743) • America’s first liberal arts academy, Pennsylvania Academy & College, now the University of Pennsylvania (1749) • America’s first public hospital, Pennsylvania Hospital (1751) • America’s first mutual insurance company, The Philadelphia Contributionship (1752) He suggested : • Colonies join together in a confederation, The Albany Plan (1754, not adopted) • The concept of Daylight Savings Time in the essay, An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light (17...

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But is there any truth to this tale? Did Franklin really discover electricity by getting zapped by a lightning bolt during this experiment? Though most people know Benjamin Franklin — an American founding father, legendary statesman and the face of the U.S. $100 bill — for his political contributions, Franklin was well known in his time as a scientist and an inventor: a true polymath. He was a member of several scientific societies and was a founding member of the American Philosophical Society. As a result, he stayed informed on the most pressing scientific questions that occupied learned people of his time, one of which was the nature of lightning. As for the kite-and-key experiment, most people are aware of the version in which the metal key acted as a lightning rod, and Franklin subsequently "discovered" electricity when lightning struck his kite. However, several details about this experiment are unknown, including when and where it happened. Some historians even doubt that it took place. Related: Did Benjamin Franklin really want the turkey to be the US national bird? For starters, it's a common myth that Franklin discovered electricity. Electricity had already been discovered and used for centuries before Franklin's experiment. Franklin lived from 1709 to 1790, and during his time, electricity was understood as the interaction between two different fluids , which Franklin later referred to as "plus" and "minus." According to French chemist Charles François de Cister...

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation (object no. NPG.87.43) (1706–90). Few people have done as much for the world as Benjamin Franklin. Although he was always proud to call himself a printer, Franklin had many other talents as well. He was a diplomat, a scientist, an inventor, a philosopher, an educator, and a public servant. Any one of Franklin’s many accomplishments would have been enough to make him famous. He organized the first library in America. He invented many things, including the lightning rod. Franklin amazed scientists throughout the world with his experiments in electricity. Architect of the Capitol In Europe, Benjamin Franklin was the most famous American of his time. It was he who persuaded the English to repeal the hated Stamp Act. It was also he who convinced the French to aid in the Early Childhood Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on January 17, 1706. His father, Josiah, was a poor soap- and candlemaker. His mother, Abiah, was Josiah’s second wife. Benjamin was the youngest son and the 15th of 17 children. At the age of 10 Benjamin began to help in his father’s shop, cutting candlewicks and filling molds. Although he went to school only two years, he was fond of books and spent much of his spare time reading. He also became an expert swimmer. One of his first inventions was a set of paddles to give him greater swimming speed. An Apprentice Printer When Franklin was 12 he went to work ...

What would you think if you saw a man chasing a thunder and lightning storm on horseback? You would probably wonder what on Earth he was trying to do. Well, if you lived in the 1700s and knew Benjamin Franklin, this is just what you might see during a terrible storm. Ben was fascinated by storms; he loved to study them. If he were alive today, we could probably add "storm-chaser" to his long list of titles. It was in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1746 that Franklin first stumbled upon other scientists' electrical experiments. He quickly turned his home into a little laboratory, using machines made out of items he found around the house. During one experiment, Ben accidentally shocked himself. In one of his letters, he described the shock as "...a universal blow throughout my whole body from head to foot, which seemed within as well as without; after which the first thing I took notice of was a violent quick shaking of my body..." (He also had a feeling of numbness in his arms and the back of his neck that gradually wore off.) Franklin spent the summer of 1747 conducting a series of groundbreaking experiments with electricity. He wrote down all of his results and ideas for future experiments in letters to Peter Collinson, a fellow scientist and friend in London who was interested in publishing his work. By July, Ben used the terms positive and negative (plus and minus) to describe electricity, instead of the previously used words "vitreous" and "resinous." Franklin described th...

Despite his great scientific achievements, however, Franklin always believed that public service was more important than science, and his political contributions to the formation of the United States were substantial. He had a hand in the writing of the Declaration of Independence, contributed to the drafting of the Equally significant perhaps were Franklin’s many contributions to the comfort and safety of daily life, especially in his adopted city of Philadelphia. No civic project was too large or too small for his interest. In addition to his Probably Franklin’s most important invention was himself. He created so many personas in his Autobiography that it is difficult to know who he really was. Following his death in 1790, he became so identified during the 19th century with the persona of his Autobiography and the

Benjamin Franklin, (born Jan. 17, 1706, Boston, Mass.—died April 17, 1790, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.), American printer and publisher, author, scientist and inventor, and diplomat. He was apprenticed at age 12 to his brother, a local printer. He taught himself to write effectively, and in 1723 he moved to Philadelphia, where he founded the Pennsylvania Gazette (1729–48) and wrote Poor Richard’s almanac (1732–57), often remembered for its proverbs and aphorisms emphasizing prudence, industry, and honesty. He became prosperous and promoted public services in Philadelphia, including a library, a fire department, a hospital, an insurance company, and an academy that became the University of Pennsylvania. His inventions include the Franklin stove and bifocal spectacles, and his experiments helped pioneer the understanding of electricity. He served as a member of the colonial legislature (1736–51). He was a delegate to the Albany Congress (1754), where he put forth a plan for colonial union. He represented the colony in England in a dispute over land and taxes (1757–62); he returned there in 1764. The issue of taxation gradually caused him to abandon his longtime support for continued American colonial membership in the British Empire. Believing that taxation ought to be the prerogative of the representative legislatures, he opposed the Stamp Act. He served as a delegate to the second Related Article Summaries

And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts: 33 Benjamin Franklin Quotes That Capture American Wisdom At Its Finest 33 Facts That Capture The Strange And Salacious Life Of Benjamin Franklin 11 Nikola Tesla Inventions That Cemented His Place As One Of History's Greatest Minds Benjamin Franklin came up with many of his inventions as a means to solve his problems. But in 1752, he came up with something meant to solve his brother John's problem: the flexible urinary catheter. John suffered from kidney stones, and had to use a painful, rigid metal tube in order to urinate. To alleviate some of this pain, Franklin invented a version with a flexible tube. "It is as flexible as would be expected in a thing of the kind, and I imagine will readily comply with the turns of the passage," he told his brother. The Franklin Institute Many of Benjamin Franklin's inventions had an important function. But one simply made beautiful music: the glass armonica. Franklin had observed European musicians making music by running their fingers along the edges of water-filled glasses, and decided to simplify the process by creating a single instrument that could make the same music. "Of all my inventions," he later noted, "the glass armonica has given me the greatest personal satisfaction." Library of Congress Benjamin Franklin arguably didn't invent the odometer — its use has been recorded even in ancient times — but he did refine it and put it to remarkable use as Postmaste...