On April 17, 1790, American statesman, printer, scientist, and writer Benjamin Franklin dies in Philadelphia at age 84.
Born in Boston in 1706, Franklin became at 12 years old an apprentice to his half brother James, a printer and publisher. He learned the printing trade and in 1723 went to Philadelphia to work after a dispute with his brother. After a sojourn in London, he started a printing and publishing press with a friend in 1728. In 1729, the company won a contract to publish Pennsylvania’s paper currency and also began publishing the Pennsylvania Gazette, which was regarded as one of the better colonial newspapers. From 1732 to 1757, he wrote and published Poor Richard’s Almanack, an instructive and humorous periodical in which Franklin coined such practical American proverbs as “God helps those who help themselves” and “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”
As his own wealth and prestige grew, Franklin took on greater civic responsibilities in Philadelphia and helped establish the city’s first circulating library, police force, volunteer fire company, and an academy that became the University of Pennsylvania. From 1737 to 1753, he was postmaster of Philadelphia and during this time also served as a clerk of the Pennsylvania legislature. In 1753, he became deputy postmaster general, in charge of mail in all the northern colonies.
Deeply interested in science and technology, he invented the Franklin stove, which is still manufactured today, and bifocal eyeglasses, among other practical inventions. In 1748, he turned his printing business over to his partner so he would have more time for his experiments. The phenomenon of electricity fascinated him, and in a dramatic experiment he flew a kite in a thunderstorm to prove that lightning is an electrical discharge. He later invented the lightning rod. Many terms used in discussing electricity, including positive, negative, battery, and conductor, were coined by Franklin in his scientific papers. He was the first American scientist to be highly regarded in European scientific circles.
Franklin was active in colonial affairs and in 1754 proposed the union of the colonies, which was rejected by Britain. In 1757, he went to London to argue for the right to tax the massive estates of the Penn family in Pennsylvania, and in 1764 went again to ask for a new charter for Pennsylvania. He was in England when Parliament passed the Stamp Act, a taxation measure to raise revenues for a standing British army in America. His initial failure to actively oppose the controversial act drew wide criticism in the colonies, but he soon redeemed himself by stoutly defending American rights before the House of Commons. With tensions between the American colonies and Britain rising, he stayed on in London and served as agent for several colonies.
In 1775, he returned to America as the American Revolution approached and was a delegate at the Continental Congress. In 1776, he helped draft the Declaration of Independence and in July signed the final document. Ironically, Franklin’s illegitimate son, William Franklin, whom Franklin and his wife had raised, had at the same time emerged as a leader of the Loyalists. In 1776, Congress sent Benjamin Franklin, one of the embattled United States’ most prominent statesmen, to France as a diplomat. Warmly embraced, he succeeded in 1778 in securing two treaties that provided the Americans with significant military and economic aid. In 1781, with French help, the British were defeated. With John Jay and John Adams, Franklin then negotiated the Treaty of Paris with Britain, which was signed in 1783.
In 1785, Franklin returned to the United States. In his last great public service, he was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and worked hard for the document’s ratification. After his death in 1790, Philadelphia gave him the largest funeral the city had ever seen.
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Compare this man to the trash now – we have for ‘elected ass clowns’.
I’m on jury this week.
Dutch,if appropriate,go with nullification,Ben would smile from the other side!
If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit. If it fits, but it’s snug, imprison that thug.
What I most enjoyed about Franklin was when he was in Europe serving the revolutionary colonies, he didn’t care when being spied upon.
To me, that dispels any insecurities as to wether the “Cause” was just or not.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY – Benjamin Franklin returns – 1914.
Granted, his health has been steadily deteriorating ever since then.
PS: $100 in 1914 → $2,542.02 in 2019. Here, do the math for yourself … (http://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1914?amount=100)
“Ben Franklin was, without question, deeply involved in freemasonry and other secret societies. He belonged to secret groups in the three countries involved in the War of Independence: America, France, and England. He was master of the Masonic Lodge of Philadelphia; while over in France, he was master of the Nine Sisters Lodge, from which sprang the French Revolution. In England, he joined a rakish political group founded by Sir Francis Dashwood (member of Parliament, advisor to King George III) called the “Monks of Medmenham Abbey”, otherwise known as the “Hellfire Club”. This eighteenth century group is described as follows:
‘The Hellfire Club was an exclusive English club that met sporadically during the mid-eighteenth
century. It’s purpose, at best, was to mock traditional religion and conduct orgies. At worst, it involved
the indulgence of satanic rites and sacrifice. The club to which Franklin belonged was established by Francis
Dashwood, a member of Parliament and friend of Franklin. The club, which consisted of “The Superior Order”
if twelve members, allegedly took part basic forms of satanic worship. In addition to taking part in
the occult, orgies, and parties with prostitutes were also said to be the norm’
On Feb. 11, 1998, the Sunday Times reported that ten bodies were dug up from beneath Benjamin Franklin’s home at 36 Craven Street in London. The bodies were of four adults, and six children. They were discovered during a costly renovation of Franklin’s former home. The Times reported:
‘Initial estimates are that the bones are about two hundred years old, and were buried at the time that
Franklin was living in the house, which was his home from 1757 to 1762 and from 1764 to 1775. Most
of the bones show signs of having been dissected, sawn or cut. One skull has been drilled with several holes’
annuit coeptis novus ordo seclorum- the above is from the book ‘Apollyon Rising 2012’ by Thomas Horn. The article mentioned from the Times, went on to suggest the bones may have been the result of experiments by Dr. William Hewson, who worked alongside the founders of British surgery, and who was also a friend of Franklin.
edit; I don’t know why the format posted like it did…..the content is still important