Benjamin Franklin - scientist, inventor, politician, diplomat, freemason, publisher, journalist. Since 1928, his portrait is on a hundred-dollar bill. One of two statesmen who, not being the president of the USA, is represented on banknotes.
Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on January 17, 1706 in a large family of an emigrant from England. He was the fifteenth child in the family. His father, Josiah Franklin, was a craftsman who made candles and soaps. 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 to work 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 edited the annual Almanac of Poor Richard and the Pennsylvania newspaper.
Throughout his life, Benjamin Franklin is constantly self-educated and improved. 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 Club of Leather Aprons, 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 basis of the University of Pennsylvania.
His scientific experiments and inventions were numerous and varied. Benjamin Franklin came up with the first project of a lightning rod, introduced the designation of electrically charged states "+", "-". He worked on the idea of an electric motor and for the first time used an electric spark to explode gunpowder.
Franklin studied the gale and advanced a theory that explained his appearance. With the filing of Benjamin, the first studies of the Gulf Stream underwater course began. He conducted experiments with a kite to determine the electrical nature of lightning.
This man also invented a small-sized stove for the home, a rocking chair and bifocal glasses, developed a new time management system and much more. Being a versatile and intelligent person, Franklin was elected a member of many scientific academies of the world. And in 1776, he proved 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 categorically opposed slavery. He was the only statesman whose signature is on the three most important documents for the United States: the US Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Versailles Peace Treaty of 1783, which officially ended the war for the independence of America from Great Britain.
