What are 3 things Benjamin Franklin is famous for?

Ben Franklin’s best inventions and innovations

• Invention: The Franklin stove (1742).
• Invention: The lightning rod (circa 1753).
• Invention or innovation: Bifocals (date unconfirmed).
• Invention or innovation: The flexible catheter (1752).
• Invention: Key words to describe electricity.

What was Benjamin Franklin most proud of?

Benjamin Franklin was a Founding Father and a polymath, inventor, scientist, printer, politician, freemason and diplomat. Franklin helped to draft the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, and he negotiated the 1783 Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War.

What are 5 interesting facts about Benjamin Franklin?

11 Surprising Facts About Benjamin Franklin

• He only had two years of formal education.
• Franklin became a hit writer as a teenager.
• He spent half his life in unofficial retirement.
• Franklin designed a musical instrument used by Mozart and Beethoven.
• He was a reluctant revolutionary.
• Franklin created a phonetic alphabet.

What is Benjamin Franklin most famous for?

One of the foremost of the Founding Fathers, he helped draft the Declaration of Independence and was one of its signers, he represented the United States in France during the American Revolution, and he was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention.

What are 5 things Benjamin Franklin invented?

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)

Who invented flippers?

Swim fins by Frenchman Louis de Corlieu, in 1933, similar in concept to Franklin’s invention. Benjamin Franklin was an avid swimmer from a very young age. Throughout his life he consistently promoted its healthful benefits. At the ripe old age of 11 he invented a pair of swim fins.

Who taught Benjamin Franklin to swim?

On one of these days, I was, to my surprise, sent for by a great man I knew only by name, a Sir William Wyndham, and I waited upon him. He had heard by some means or other of my swimming from Chelsea to Blackfriars, and of my teaching Wygate and another young man to swim in a few hours.

What were Benjamin Franklin’s last words?

Reportedly, Franklin’s last words were, “A dying man can do nothing easily.” Newspapers in Boston said that Franklin had been ill for several weeks, and they made sure readers knew that Franklin was born there.

How many slaves did Ben Franklin have?

Unfortunately, yes. Like several other “founding fathers” (like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and James Madison), Benjamin Franklin was at one point a slave owner. He held seven people in slavery, two of whom traveled with him to London for a time, Peter and King.

Why was Ben Franklin never President?

Benjamin Franklin One thing he was not was a U.S. President. Franklin served as ambassador to France and was later elected “President of Pennsylvania”, what we would call a governor today. He never ran for president. Franklin was very elderly and sick by the time of the first presidential election in 1789.

Why is Franklin on the $100 bill?

Franklin contributed much to what is deemed most “American” about the United States. He was tirelessly innovative, brave and capable, diplomatic and wise. All of these values are honored by Americans and honored in the likeness of the unforgettable Franklin on the $100 bill.

What did Benjamin Franklin invent when he was 11 years old?

swimming fins
Library of Congress An avid swimmer, Franklin was just 11 years old when he invented swimming fins—two oval pieces of wood that, when grasped in the hands, provided extra thrust through the water. He also tried out fins for his feet, but they weren’t as effective.

What did Ben Franklin invent for kids?

He invented many things, such as bifocal spectacles, a heat-efficient stove, fins for swimming, and a musical instrument called a glass armonica. His most exciting invention, however, was the lightning rod. Before the arrival of Franklin’s invention, buildings were often destroyed in fires started by lightning strikes.

Who invented the lightning rod?

Benjamin Franklin
Prokop Diviš
Lightning rod/Inventors

Why do people leave pennies on Franklin’s grave?

Visitors have been able to see Franklin’s grave from Arch Street since 1858, when the church opened the burial ground’s brick wall, and every year “hundreds of thousands of visitors toss pennies at the grave for good luck” as a nod to Franklin’s adage, “a penny saved in a penny earned,” according to the Christ Church …

Why is Benjamin Franklin on the $100 bill?

A Founding Father Franklin was one of the – if not the – most important founding father in our nation. His work in forging the Declaration of Independence is considered pivotal in the forming of the nation, so it is well-fitting that his likeness be on this important bill.

Why was Ben Franklin never president?

Was Ben Franklin ever married?

Deborah ReadBenjamin Franklin / Spouse (m. 1730–1774)

Is Benjamin Franklin on the $100 bill?

Portrait and Vignette The $100 note features a portrait of Benjamin Franklin on the front of the note. The vignette on the back of the note changed in 1929 to feature Independence Hall.

Who was on the $10000 bill?

Salmon P. Chase
The $10,000 bill featuring the portrait of President Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase, was the highest denomination US currency ever to publicly circulate.

Who is Benjamin Franklin?

Benjamin Franklin. Jump to navigation Jump to search. Benjamin Franklin FRS FRSE (January 17, 1706 [O.S. January 6, 1705] – April 17, 1790) was an American polymath and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

Why did Benjamin Franklin lead the anti-proprietary party in Pennsylvania?

At this time, many members of the Pennsylvania Assembly were feuding with William Penn’s heirs, who controlled the colony as proprietors. After his return to the colony, Franklin led the “anti-proprietary party” in the struggle against the Penn family, and was elected Speaker of the Pennsylvania House in May 1764.

Was Benjamin Franklin friends with his landlady?

During his stays there, he developed a close friendship with his landlady, Margaret Stevenson, and her circle of friends and relations, in particular, her daughter Mary, who was more often known as Polly. The house is now operating as a museum known as the Benjamin Franklin House.

How did Benjamin Franklin get involved in politics?

Franklin became involved in Philadelphia politics and rapidly progressed. In October 1748, he was selected as a councilman, in June 1749 he became a Justice of the Peace for Philadelphia, and in 1751 he was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly.