A Short Synopsys of Benjamin Franklin's Life

Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston 1706 and died in Pennsylvania 1790. He was a notorious author, inventor, philosopher, and politician. Most famous for signing the Declaration of Independence (1776), he was the youngest of ten children and the son of a soap and candle maker. He was and still is considered to be one of the wisest men who ever lived, in some cases it's believed that America would not have prospered as well as it has without his influence.

In his early life Franklin was apprenticed as a printer until he ran away to Philadelphia where he became a successful publisher of pamphlets, almanacs and newspapers. He retired in his forties and later became utterly fascinated by science, physics, and political affairs.

It was during this time period (1750's) that Franklin conducted electricity experiments such as the famous risk he took when he dangled a key from a kite during a storm, and invented things such as the indoor stove, the armonica, bifocal glasses, the lightning rod, and the odometer.

During the following half of his life Benjamin Franklin devoted himself to governmental matters and diplomacy.

He became a strong influence in the revolutionary war, the first postmaster general, represented the colonies on multiple accounts including trips to England, during the Stamp Act, and when he negotiated a treaty with Britain. In 1776 he became America's Ambassador, signed the Declaration of Independence, negotiated an alliance with France, and encouraged the Delegates at the Constitutional Convention to accept the Constitution.

He fathered five sons with his wife Jo Ann Skousen before his death and wrote four parts of an autobiography, dedicated to his family, which he never finished. He lived for wisdom and died peacefully. One of the things he said was this: "If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing."