Benjamin Franklin

Fatima Sajid
Section- 8-1

Table of Contents

Title ……………………………………… Page 1
Table of Contents………………………… Page 2
Biography……………………………….... Page 3
Picture…………………………………….. Page 4
Map………………………………………. Page 5
Extensions 1-3…………………………….. Pages 6-8
Bibliography……………………………..... Page 9

Biography
Benjamin Franklin was born in Milk Street in Boston, Massachusetts on January 17, 1706 to Josiah Franklin and Abiah Folger.He was the youngest son of five generations of youngest sons. He had eleven living brothers and sisters. His father, Josiah Franklin, made soap and candles for a living. When Ben was eight, his father sent him to the South Grammar School to prepare for a life as a minister. After several months, however, Josiah decided he could not afford it and took Ben out. Soon Ben was back in school, this time at George Brownell's English School. He finished in 1716 after one year and never went to school again. He went to work. Josiah sent Ben around to watch several tradesmen, but none of them interested Ben. Ben ended up as an apprentice to his half-brother James, who was a printer. Ben loved to read and write poetry, so this job seemed good. At the age of twelve, he signed an indenture lasting nine years. While learning the trade from James, Ben worked on his writing, copying the style of essays in magazines. When James started a paper in 1721, called the New England Courant, Ben submitted a series of essays to the magazine under the name of Silence Dogood. The essays made fun of Boston society and became very popular. In 1722, the Massachusetts government put James in prison twice for criticizing it in his newspape. During these periods, Ben published the paper under his own name. When James returned, he sensed that his half-brother was too talented for his own good.Ben quit the printing shop. Ben couldn’t find any work in Boston. With no work, Ben left. He soon found work at a newspaper in Philadelphia, but in 1724, he left for England, where he became a master printer.He decided to return to Philadelphia in 1726 and in 1730, he started his own newspaper, The Pennsylvania Gazette.He began publishing his Poor Richard's Almanac in 1732. The Almanac covered many different things and was published new each year. It had a calendar and yearly weather forecast, so the farmers would know best when to plant crops. It also had funny stories, jokes, and proverbs. Franklin Institute states that Ben decided to become a vegetarian when he was 16 years old. He prepared his own meals, and mentions eating boiled potatoes, rice, hasty pudding, bread, raisins, and water. Ben was a vegetarian. However, the Franklin Institute University of Delaware states that this is False. Evidence suggests young Franklin was adverse to killing animals for food. He had a strong interest in science. He was constantly developing new ideas. He created a new messenger system between cities. He took part in establishing a hospital. One of his greatest inventions is the Franklin stove. In 1740, he invented a stove that sent heat out in all directions. He was interested in reading about electricity. In 1752, in France, his experiments proved that lightning was a form of electricity.In 1753, he conducted his famous experiment when he flew a kite with a key attached with a wire in the middle of a thunderstorm. The wet string became a conductor. When lightening hit the kite, an electrical spark was seen on the key. With his knowledge from this experiment, he invented the lightning rod, which protected building during lightning storms.The lightning rods were used all over the Colonies and in Europe. When he sailed to France for the Revolutionary cause, he would study the ocean currents.He was elected to the French Academy of Sciences in 1772. His later achievements included formulating a theory of heat and inventing bifocal lenses etc. In 1730 he married Deborah Reed. They had three children;Mary,William, and Francis. Benjamin Franklin died on April