Benjamin Franklin is a scientist, inventor, politician, diplomat, freemason, publisher, journalist. Since 1928, his portrait has been on the one hundred dollar bill. One of two statesmen who, while not being the President of the United States, is depicted on banknotes.
Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on January 17, 1706, into a large family of an emigrant from England. He was the fifteenth child in the family. His father, Josiah Franklin, was a craftsman making candles and soap. Benjamin studied at school for only two years, after which his father could not pay for him. From that moment on, young Benjamin Franklin took up his education on his own.
From the age of twelve, the boy began working in the printing house of his older brother. For a long time, this will be his main occupation. At the age of 21, Benjamin Franklin founded his own printing house in Philadelphia. He also published the yearbook Poor Richard's Almanac and the Pennsylvania newspaper.
Throughout his life, Benjamin Franklin constantly educated himself and improved himself. He independently learned Latin and several foreign languages. He was engaged in scientific experiments and was a socially active person. So, in 1728 he became the founder of the "Leather aprons club", a discussion group, which in the future will turn into a philosophical society. It was Franklin who founded the first public library in America and the Philadelphia Academy, which in the future will become the foundation of the University of Pennsylvania.
His scientific experiments and inventions were many and varied. Benjamin Franklin came up with the first design of a lightning rod, introduced the designation of electrically charged states "+", "-". He was working on the idea of an electric motor and was the first to use an electric spark to explode gunpowder.
Franklin studied storm winds and put forward a theory that explained its appearance. With the suggestion of Benjamin, the first studies of the underwater current of the Gulf Stream began. He conducted experiments with a kite to clarify the electrical nature of lightning.
Also, this man invented a small-sized home oven, a rocking chair and bifocals, developed a new time management system, and much more. As a versatile and intelligent person, Franklin was elected a member of many scientific academies around the world. And in 1776 he showed himself as a diplomat when he was sent as ambassador to France to sign an alliance between her and America.
Benjamin Franklin adhered to the concept of natural and inalienable human rights and freedoms. He advocated the political independence of America, the establishment of universal suffrage and strongly opposed slavery. He was the only statesman to have his signature on three of the most important documents for the United States: the US Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Treaty of Versailles of 1783, which officially ended America's war of independence from Great Britain.
