American noted polymath. Inventor, scientist, leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, musician, satirist, civic activist, statesman (the president of Pennsylvania and one of the America's most influential Founding Fathers), and diplomat (the first United States Ambassador to France).
He invented the lightning rod, bifocals, the Franklin stove, a carriage odometer.
Born: January 17, 1706, Boston
Died: April 17, 1790, Philadelphia
 1775. |  |