Benjamin Franklin Facts

Name
Benjamin Franklin

Date of Birth
January 17, 1706

Date of Death
April 17, 1790

Place of Birth
Boston, Massachusetts

Birth Family
Josiah Franklin and Abiah Folger

Marriage/Spouse
Common-law marriage with Deborah Read

Children
William Franklin, Francis Folger Franklin and Sarah Franklin.

Education
Attended Boston Latin School for two years but did not graduate

Career
Printer, scientist, inventor, entrepreneur

Reason for Fame
a founding father of the United States ofAmerica. He was a noted polymath, a leading author and printer,Satirist, political theorist, politician, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, soldier, and diplomat.

Additional Information
Franklin invented the lightning rod, bifocals, the Franklin stove, a carriage odometer and the glass ‘armonica’. Franklin formed both the first public lending library in America and the first fire department in Pennsylvania. As a diplomat during the American Revolution, he secured the French alliance that helped to make independence of the United States possible.