Franklin, Benjamin. Born in 1706. Statesman, philosopher, and publisher. Benjamin Franklin was the fifteenth of 17 children of a soap-boiler of Boston, MA. Quarreling with his brother, Franklin went to Philadelphia almost penniless. Here, in 1729, he purchased the "Pennsylvania Gazette," formed a club called "The Junto," and began to acquire political influence. Franklin was chosen clerk of the provincial assembly in 1736 and, in 1753, became postmaster-general for British North America. In 1754, when a rupture with Frances was expected, he sat as a delegate in the Congress at Albany, and in 1756, for a third time, held a military command. In 1757 Franklin was sent to England as agent for Pennsylvania and, his reputation as a practical philosopher having preceded him, he was received with great respect; Edinburgh, Oxford, and St. Andrews conferring upon him the degree of doctor of laws. In 1764 he revisited England as colonial agent, and was mainly instrumental in securing the repeal of the Stamp Act. When the rupture with England took place, he was elected a member of the American Congress, signed the Declaration of Independence, and subsequently aided in framing the Constitution of the United States. In 1776 Franklin was appointed ambassador to France, and held the post until 1785. He returned to America to assume the office of governor of Pennsylvania, to which he was twice re-elected, retiring from public life in 1788. Among his scientific discoveries was the identity of lightning with electricity, which he demonstrated by his famous kite experiment. Benjamin Franklin died in 1790.

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