No visit to Philadelphia would be complete without mentioning Benjamin Franklin. Ben was born in 1706 in Boston but moved to Philadelphia in 1723. When he was 15, his brother James started a newspaper and Ben wanted to contribute but knew James would not let him so he wrote letters at night and signed them Silence Dogood, a fictional widow. The letters were a hit and Ben eventually confessed they were his. The Franklins ran into trouble with the Boston puritans (landing James in jail) and so Ben ran away to Philadelphia and got a job as an apprentice printer. Ben eventually created his own printing business and eventually a book store too. He bought the Pennsylvania Gazette often contributing under his various aliases, and also printed an annual called Poor Richard's Almanack. The saying 'a penny saved is a penny earned' was originally one of Bens saying published in the almanack.
As books were expensive, Ben launched the first public library in 1731.
Fires were a serious threat the Philadelphia, so Ben organised the Union Fire Company in 1736, which was essentially the first public fire brigade. His famous saying 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure' was actually in relation to the fire brigade.
Ben recognized that the city needed help in better treating the sick, Ben formed a group that resulted in Pennsylvania Hospital in 1951.
Franklin's printing business was thriving in this 1730s and 1740s. He also started setting up franchise printing partnerships in other cities. By 1749 he retired from business and started concentrating on science, experiments, and inventions. This was nothing new to Franklin. In 1743, he had already invented a heat-efficient stove — called the Franklin stove — to help warm houses efficiently. As the stove was invented to help improve society, he refused to take out a patent.
Among Franklin's other inventions are swim fins, the glass armonica (a musical instrument) and bifocals. In the early 1750's he turned to the study of electricity. His observations, including his kite experiment which verified the nature of electricity and lightning brought Franklin international fame.
Politics became more of an active interest for Franklin in the 1750s. In 1757, he went to England to represent Pennsylvania in its fight with the descendants of the Penn family over who should represent the Colony. He remained in England to 1775, as a Colonial representative not only of Pennsylvania, but of Georgia, New Jersey and Massachusetts as well. He was sick of the corruption in the Government and was already wondering if America should break free of England.
He returned home and was elected to the Second Continental Congress and worked on a committee of five that helped to draft the Declaration of Independence. Though much of the writing is Thomas Jefferson's, much of the contribution is Franklin's. In 1776 Franklin signed the Declaration, and afterward sailed to France as an ambassador to the Court of Louis XVI.
The French loved Franklin, the man who tamed electricity, so the government of France signed a Treaty of Alliance with the Americans in 1778. Franklin also helped secure loans and persuade the French they were doing the right thing. Franklin was on hand to sign the Treaty of Paris in 1783, after the Americans had won the Revolution.
In his late seventies, Franklin returned to America and became President of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania. He served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and signed the Constitution. One of his last public acts was writing an anti-slavery treatise in 1789.
Franklin died on April 17, 1790 at the age of 84. 20,000 people attended the funeral.
As books were expensive, Ben launched the first public library in 1731.
Fires were a serious threat the Philadelphia, so Ben organised the Union Fire Company in 1736, which was essentially the first public fire brigade. His famous saying 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure' was actually in relation to the fire brigade.
Ben recognized that the city needed help in better treating the sick, Ben formed a group that resulted in Pennsylvania Hospital in 1951.
Franklin's printing business was thriving in this 1730s and 1740s. He also started setting up franchise printing partnerships in other cities. By 1749 he retired from business and started concentrating on science, experiments, and inventions. This was nothing new to Franklin. In 1743, he had already invented a heat-efficient stove — called the Franklin stove — to help warm houses efficiently. As the stove was invented to help improve society, he refused to take out a patent.
Among Franklin's other inventions are swim fins, the glass armonica (a musical instrument) and bifocals. In the early 1750's he turned to the study of electricity. His observations, including his kite experiment which verified the nature of electricity and lightning brought Franklin international fame.
Politics became more of an active interest for Franklin in the 1750s. In 1757, he went to England to represent Pennsylvania in its fight with the descendants of the Penn family over who should represent the Colony. He remained in England to 1775, as a Colonial representative not only of Pennsylvania, but of Georgia, New Jersey and Massachusetts as well. He was sick of the corruption in the Government and was already wondering if America should break free of England.
He returned home and was elected to the Second Continental Congress and worked on a committee of five that helped to draft the Declaration of Independence. Though much of the writing is Thomas Jefferson's, much of the contribution is Franklin's. In 1776 Franklin signed the Declaration, and afterward sailed to France as an ambassador to the Court of Louis XVI.
The French loved Franklin, the man who tamed electricity, so the government of France signed a Treaty of Alliance with the Americans in 1778. Franklin also helped secure loans and persuade the French they were doing the right thing. Franklin was on hand to sign the Treaty of Paris in 1783, after the Americans had won the Revolution.
In his late seventies, Franklin returned to America and became President of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania. He served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and signed the Constitution. One of his last public acts was writing an anti-slavery treatise in 1789.
Franklin died on April 17, 1790 at the age of 84. 20,000 people attended the funeral.
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