Benjamin franklin
Benjamin franklinBenjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts. Since this was on a Sunday, his father had him immediately baptized, to avoid any superstitious curse on him. Franklin was the 15th of 17 children.
When he was a boy, Franklin liked to write his name in a fancy manner. But one day an old man who was visiting them saw the elaborate signature and remarked, "What fool wrote this?" After that, Ben started writing his name in a plain style. At age 10 Ben helped his father in his shop cutting candlewicks and filling molds. He spent much of his time reading and also became a fantastic swimmer. This led to one of his first inventions; paddles that helped him swim faster.
At age 12, he started as an apprentice at his half-brother's printing shop. While working there, Ben wrote some poems that his brother printed and sold. Ben educated himself by reading the classic authors of his time. He also studied books on arithmetic, navigation, and grammar. He loved a set of papers by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele called the "Spectator" and would read the essays it contained and rewrite them in his own style. He found his writing style by comparing the original essay and his and finding the mistakes. Franklin loved to read. When he was 16, he tried to save money to buy more books by only eating vegetables to cut food costs.
Ben's brother treated him harsh and tyrannical. Franklin later attributed his love of independence to the years he spent as an apprentice and his aversion to the power of his brother. When he was 17, Franklin left home and moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He arrived there almost penniless. He also essentially cut his ties with his family in Boston. He gained attention of the Pennsylvania Governor, and at age 18 Ben was sent to London to study the latest developments in printing. He worked in the ship's print shop on the journey. When he was 20, Franklin returned to Philadelphia. He started the American Philosophical Society, at age 21. The next year, he started his first print shop in Philadelphia with partner Hugh Meridith. At age 23, he established the Pennsylvania Gazette Newspaper. This was the first newspaper to use political cartoons. Franklin married at age 24 in 1730 to Deborah Read and his son William was born the next year. When he was 26, he published the first edition of his Poor Richard's Almanac.
Franklin continued his printing business, but he also became involved in civic affairs and started his scientific observations.
At age 30, Franklin started the first fire department in Philadelphia. The next year, he was given the job as Postmaster General of Philadelphia. At age 36, he proposed the idea for the Academy of Pennsylvania, now the University of...
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