Benjamin
Franklin, who passed away on 17 April 1790,
aged 84, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, was an American
statesman, Founding Father, and scientist. He has also been known as
"the First American". He was a very important person in the American
Revolution and helped make the Thirteen Colonies one nation. As a leader of the
Enlightenment, he influenced European scientists. He even was the first thing
many Europeans associated with America at the time. His
successful diplomacy in France was an important factor in the United
States' win over Great
Britain.
7 of the
most important of Franklin's accomplishments
1. The Franklin Stove was
revolutionary
In 1740, Benjamin
Franklin invented his now-famous Franklin Stove. This freestanding stove
produced more heat for less fuel compared to contemporaries of the period.
The stove was
actually a specially designed fireplace that had a hollow baffle near the rear
to transfer more heat from the fire to the room's air. Hot fumes and
smoke from the fire were drawn over an "inverted siphon" to achieve
this effect and help produce less smoke than ordinary fireplaces.
Smoke and other
exhaust gases were then channeled up the chimney. Unfortunately for Franklin,
it wasn't a massive commercial success until it was later improved by David
Rittenhouse.
2. Franklin also invented a new
musical instrument
Benjamin Franklin
also turned his hand to creating new forms of musical instruments. Chief
amongst them was his interesting glass instrument called the Armonica.
The Armonica was
invented in around 1761 and its name derives from the Italian word
"Armonia" meaning harmony.
You are probably
familiar with so-called "glass harps" or "musical glasses"
whereby players rub their fingers around the rims of water-filled wine glasses.
The Armonica is, in essence, and descendant of this ancient technique.
Franklin's Armonica,
used a series of glass bowls, or goblets, of graduated size that produced
musical tones through friction. It was played by rotating the glasses around a
central shaft.
Both Ludwig van
Beethoven and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed music for the strange
instrument. Today, similar devices are known more commonly as friction
idiophones.
3. Benjamin Franklin actually
invented bifocals
Benjamin Franklin is
commonly credited with the invention of bifocal glasses. Whilst there is
some debate about whether this is true, there is strong evidence to show that
this is indeed true.
It may be the case
that bifocals are yet another example of an invention that is independently
developed by multiple people over time. Whatever the case, like all great
inventions, they were the product of the inventor's own frustration with
something in the world.
In this case,
Benjamin Franklin has become so tired of his own aging eyes that he decided to
do something about it. Through trial and error, he finally managed to produce a
pair of glasses that allowed him to see close-up and far away without the need
to change his glasses.
4. He helped pen the American
Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution
Probably his most important
accomplishment was being one of the authors of the American Declaration of
Independence. In 1776 he was appointed as a member of the Committee of Five
that would go on to draft the Declaration.
Franklin, then of
advanced age, was temporarily disabled by gout and unable to attend most
meetings of the Committee, Franklin made several "small but
important" changes to the draft sent to him by Thomas Jefferson.
At the signing, he
is quoted as having replied to a comment by John Hancock that they must all
hang together: "Yes, we must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly
we shall all hang separately."
Franklin was a very
strong advocate for the right to free speech and, in 1787, also signed one of
the most important documents of all time. The United States Constitution.
To this day, it
remains one of the bastions of legal protection for individual liberty in the
world.
5. He was the first Postmaster
General of the United States
In 1737, Benjamin Franklin was
appointed as the very first Postmaster for Philadelphia by the British Crown
Post. A post he held until 1753.
Franklin threw
himself into the task and implemented many effective measures that enabled his
post office to become the first profitable one in any British colony of the
time.
In 1775, when the
Second Continental Congress established the United States Post Office, Franklin
was made its postmaster general due to his experience in the field.
Franklin's postal
service still exists, more or less, today but was renamed the United States
Postal Service in the early 1970s.
6. He helped create the First
American Political Cartoon
The freedom to openly criticize
politicians and other powerful figures in society is critical to freedom
of thought and speech. Whilst an announcement to those who hold power, it is
vitally important that political satire remains vigorous and unimpeded in a
free society.
For this reason, Franklin and Hugh
Meredith bought the newspaper the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1729. He not only
owned the paper but also wrote satirical pieces in it under aliases.
Join, or Die, the very first
political cartoon in America was personally created by Benjamin in 1754. It
later became an important symbol of colonial unity during the revolution and
remains popular.
7. And finally, his famous Lighting
Rod
Franklin, apart from
being a prolific inventor, is also well known for his scientific
experimentation. Most notably his work on electricity and lightning.
He conducted
extensive experiments in the field of electricity and made some very
important discoveries. For example, he was one of the first people to propose
that electricity consisted of two opposing forces.
He suggested that it
actually moves from one body to another and even coined the terms positive,
negative, battery, charge, and conductor. He is probably best known for his
work with lighting and was adamant that lighting was a form of electricity.
His experiments,
including his famous Kite experiment, enabled him to create a device that
would protect buildings from the destructive force of lightning. Thus, the
lightning rod, which protects structures by earthing, was invented.
