Ben Franklin: A Brief Biography Of Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706 in Boston Massachusetts. He was one of seventeen other brothers and sisters. His father, Josiah Franklin, who emigrated from Oxfordshire, England, worked as a soap boiler and tallow chandler. Benjamin’s mother, Abiah Folger, was from Nantucket but her family derived from England as well.

Benjamin Franklin’s entire life, which lasted almost the entire eighteenth century, was based upon order and systematic discipline in addition to his dependence on wisdom and intelligence. Franklin was sincere, honest, and was apt to self-examination. He acquired long lasting friends from persons of every age.

Benjamin Franklin started attending school at the age of 8 and was at the head of his class by the end of his first year. After only attending his first school for one year he moved on to math and arithmetic school. He failed out of that school by the time he was 10. He then quit school completely in order to assist his father in the soap and candle making business. At age 12 he moved on to be an apprentice to his older brother James, who was a printer.

Soon Franklin had ambitions to write and by age 16 he had written a series of letters by an imaginary author. The letters were printed in the New England Courant, which was published by his brother. Still pursuing his writing career, he ran away to Philadelphia and continued working in the printing business. He arrived in 1725 with one Dutch dollar and one copper shilling. By 1729, he had bought and published The Pennsylvania Gazette. He then married his landlady’s daughter, Deborah Reed. In the next seventeen years Franklin had three children, published the first Poor Richards Almanac, and invented the Pennsylvania fireplace, amo...

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...bout water. Franklin answered many of the questions that water posed. He did experiments that showed the multiple effect of oil in water. He also constructed a miniature towing tank that proved that the drag of an item pulled in water increased as the depth decreased.

Franklin worked on his first electrical experiment in 1747 and was immediately intrigued. He continued with his electrical experiments including electrifying his kite string in a storm. He also examined how the storms worked. Franklin learned about how "air ways" cause different weather and storms.

Franklin’s life was composed greatly of understanding of phenomenons that baffled others. This pushed him to be successful in many walks of life. His success was verified throughout his life. By the time he died, Franklin was honored by membership in twenty colleges or learned societies.