Ben Franklin

Ben Franklin

Ben Franklin became famous for being a scientist, an inventor, a statesman, a printer, a philosopher, and a librarian. Today, we honor Ben Franklin as one of the men who founded America and as one of America's greatest citizens.

Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on January 17, 1706. He was the tenth son of soap maker, Josiah Franklin. Though Ben only had one year of schooling he was educated and loved to read and write. He worked as an apprentice to his brother, James, who was a printer, when he was fifteen years old. At the age of seventeen, Ben ran away and started a new life in Philadelphia as a result of arguments with James. Franklin found work as an apprentice printer and did so well the provincial governor of Pennsylvania promised to set him up a business if he traveled to England to buy supplies. The governor never followed up on his promise and Benjamin was forced to spend several months in England doing print work. On returning home, he opened up his own printing business.

Around this period of time, in 1728, Ben fathered a child, William, of whom the mother is not known. Two years later he married his childhood sweetheart, Deborah Read. Not only did the Franklins own a print shop, they also opened a store selling almost everything and a bookstore.

Ben Franklin had many accomplishments and was very successful in life. His newspaper, The Pennsylvania Gazette, was one of the most successful papers in the colonies. He first published Poor Richard's Almanack in 1732. Many famous quotes come from this almanack.

In addition to printing and writing pieces of literature, Ben had many civic contributions. In 1731 he established one of the first subscription libraries in America, the Library Company of Philadelphia., under the pen name Richard Saunders. He also helped to found the first firehouse, Philadelphia's Union Fire Company and an insurance company, the Philadelphia Contribution for Insurance Against Loss by Fire. In 1737, Ben was appointed deputy postmaster of Philadelphia.

In 1749, Ben retired from his business career and concentrated on science, experiments, and inventions. He founded the American Philosophical Society, an organization to promote advancements in science. His studies oviously paid off because Ben Franklin was the inventor of