Benjamin Franklin is mostly known for his patriotic actions, but the average person does not know about his life, what led him to do everything he was able to achieve, and many other great things he was able to do which the world does not recognize him for, including the Franklin stove. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America and is also known for making significant contributions in the areas of physics regarding electricity.
Franklin chose to make a recollection of his life because he deeply enjoyed his lifetime, and if presented with the opportunity would repeat it, only fixing some minor mistakes along the way. Benjamin Franklin was born on 1706 in Boston to Josiah
Franklin and Abiah Folger. He was the 15th child of a total of 17 brothers and sisters. His father sent him to school with the intention of seeing his son becoming a minister, but abandoned that idea as he saw how Benjamin enjoyed writing and reading.
At the young age of 12 he signed a contract of eight to work for his brother
James, who was a printer. In this job he was able to improve even more his reading and writing, but he quit after only five years. At the age of 17, he secretly moved to
Philadelphia where he worked for Samuel Keimer in a printing shop. Here he met his future wife Deborah Read. While at Philadelphia, someone gave the city governor a letter written by Franklin, and the Gov. William Keith is very impressed by the young man’s remarkable writing skills.
He later on decides to move 18 months to England in search of connections that could be useful for him in the future. There he worked at Palmer’s, a distinguished printing house in England. He established a debate group named the Junto after he went back to America. In 1728, Keimer is almost bankrupt so Franklin decided to buy The
Pennsylvania Gazette from him, which he transformed into a widely successful publication. Two years later he marries his old lover, Deborah Read. With her help he founds the first library in America.
In 1732 he begins Poor Richard’s Almanac, a yearly publication that lasted 25 years. Ten years later he invented the stove, in his deep interest for improving the conditions of life. In the decade of the 40s he sets up a plan for colonial defense, establishes a street sweeping service, and forms the first modern fire department in
America. He began working on what would later on become the University of
Pennsylvania and became Postmaster General of America. In 1753 he was granted with honorary degrees from the prestigious universities Harvard and Yale.
He focused all his attention on his scientific work, during which he came up with the idea that lightning and electricity are the same thing. In 1754, during the war between France and England, Franklin worked planning propositions to collect funds for colonial defense. He was largely involved in the coordination of the war.