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Benjamin Franklin. Niko Gonzalez Ms. Marshall W. Stiern Middle School 2009-2010 Standard HSS 7.11. Birth and Young Life. Ben Franklin was born on Jan. 17, 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts. He was one of seventeen children, Benjamin was the youngest son.
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Benjamin Franklin Niko Gonzalez Ms. Marshall W. Stiern Middle School 2009-2010 Standard HSS 7.11
Birth and Young Life • Ben Franklin was born on Jan. 17, 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts. • He was one of seventeen children, Benjamin was the youngest son. • His parents could not afford to give Ben more than two years of school. Between the ages of 8 and 10 he went to school. His teachers did not expect him to be famous at all.
Childhood • As a young boy, Benjamin Franklin wanted to be a scientist. • He would always try find out why the way it was, and also try to improve it. • Ben experimented with all kinds of things to improve his swimming. • Another experiment was, he tried to fly a kit while he was swimming and he floated from the shallow to the deep end of the pool.
Early Adulthood • When Benjamin Franklin got a little bit older he learned aprofession by working for someone whose trade he wanted to master. • He was so familiar with books ,Benjamin Franklin decided that he wanted to learn and be a printer. • He was so familiar with books, he would be an apprentice, a kind of student-worker for his brother James. • He learned fast and because of that he was a hard worker.
Printing • In Boston, Ben Franklin worked hard on learning how to operate the printing presses and how to sell the results. • When Ben Franklin was seventeen, he felt he had learned about printing. • Ben did not get along with his brother James as the boss, so he left Boston and went to Philadelphia. He was very poor, but he knew his trade. • In Philadelphia, he found a job as a printer’s assistant. After a few years of hard work, he opened up his own printing shop, in Philadelphia.
Publisher • Before long, Benjamin Franklin combined his printer’s trade along with his writing talents. • He bought a newspaper called The Pennsylvania Gazette and became the publisher of the newspaper. • Franklin also wrote and printed his own book called Poor Richard’s Almanack. • It came out once a year, full of practical advice, good humor, and lively sayings.
Electricity • Benjamin Franklin liked to watch a magic electricity show in 1743. • The host was Dr. Spencer and he would perform tricks with what we call static electricity. • Benjamin Franklin went to one of his shows and after the show he spoke with Dr. Spencer. • Ben wanted to know why the tricks worked. Dr. Spencer admitted that he did really understand how or why the tricks worked.
Experiments • Ben Franklin was so amazed by what he saw that day. He wanted to investigate the subject himself. • After he retired from printing in 1748, he stood loyal to electricity the next five years. • Franklin began his experiments with very simple tools He used a two foot long tube, and a piece of silk or leather. He used a the leather to rub the glass tube. The rubbing filled the tube with static electricity.
Inventions • Ben Franklin was also a great inventor. He invented many things we use today. • Such as bifocals, swim fins a glass armonica, watertight bulkheads for ships, the lighting rod, an odometer, and the wood stove, also known as the Franklin stove. • Ben Franklin’s most successful invention is the bifocals because most of the United States have and wear bifocal eyeglasses.
Retirement • Thebook was very popular and helped make himself become a wealthy man. • When Ben Franklin was 44 years old, he decided that he had enough money to retire. • He wanted free time to experiment, and explore his varied and many interests. • Although he loved reading books, he gave up his printing career to do other things.
Bibliography • Feldman, Eve. Benjamin Franklin Scientist and Inventor • Morgan, Edmund. Benjamin Franklin. • http://inventors.about.com/od/fstartnventions/a/franklin.htp
