Five Benjamin Franklin Fun Facts
On this day, in 1752, Benjamin Franklin famously flew a kite during a thunderstorm, demonstrating the relationship between lightning and electricity. In honor of the 269th anniversary of Franklin’s collection of an ambient electrical charge, Strellis and Field wanted to share five intriguing facts about the famous Founding Father.
- Despite helping draft both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Consitution, Franklin only had two years of formal education at the Boston Latin School, which he left at age 10.
- Franklin never became a U.S president; however, he is the only politician that signed all four of the documents that were intrinsic to the creation of the United States. Those fundamental documents include the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Alliance with France, the Treaty of Paris with Great Britain, and the U.S. Constitution.
- After experimenting with lightning, Franklin invented the lightning rod, which protects structures like buildings and ships from lightning strikes by conducting the electricity into the ground rather than into the structure itself. Franklin also invented bifocals, and an instrument called the armonica amongst his numerous other inventions.
- Franklin was inducted as a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1968. Franklin was an avid proponent of the importance of learning how to swim, and he invented swimming fins at the ripe old age of 11!
- In 1787, Franklin became the president of a Pennsylvania abolitionist society, and months before his passing in 1790, he petitioned Congress to abolish slavery and end the slave trade. Despite Congress ignoring his pleas, Franklin ensured that his children would not own slaves by including a provision in his will that required his daughter and son-in-law to free their slaves in order to obtain their inheritance.
You can learn more about Benjamin Franklin at the Franklin Institute’s website. Thanks to Franklin’s experiments, we know to stay safe and indoors when thunderstorms strike. If you want to read up on some other fun facts and history, take a look at our other Strellis and Field blog posts, which can be found here.
