America has never and will never forget Benjamin Franklin, because he would "write things worth reading or do things worth the writing." He wrote as much as he possibly could and became famous for doing many things.
Benjamin stands alone as the only person to have signed all four of the documents that helped to create the United States: the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Treaty of Alliance, Amity, and Commerce with France (1778), the Treaty of Peace between England, France, and the United States (1782), and the Constitution of the United States (1787). He actually helped to write and change parts of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. No other person was more involved in our nation's birth.
Benjamin's parents were Josiah and Abiah Franklin. Benjamin was the youngest of ten sons. He came from a poor family and was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 17, 1706.
Benjamin achieved many things in his life, even while he was still young. As a young boy, he helped his father out at his soap and candle making shop. Later, he worked as an apprentice to his brother, James, at his printing shop. He eventually started his own printing business and published the Pennsylvania Gazette from 1729 to 1766. He also wrote and published Poor Richard's Almanac from 1733 until1758.
Benjamin had many ideas for the improvement of Philadelphia. He formed the first circulating library in America, helped organize their fire department, and suggested ways to light streets, deepen the rivers, dispose of garbage, and keep people from slipping on ice.
Sometimes his ideas turned into inventions. Just to name a few of his more famous .
inventions, he made a stepladder stool with a seat that turned up, his "Y-stick" that allowed him to reach books on high shelves, the Franklin stove, a clock with three wheels for hours, minutes, and seconds, bifocal glasses, made "magic squares", and made very helpful contributions to science by risking his life to find out more about electricity through his famous experiment of flying a kite with a key attached in a storm.
