Benjamin Franklin A Renaissance Man Inventor, Philanthropist and Diplomat

1. Benjamin FranklinA Renaissance ManInventor, Philanthropist and Diplomat Mrs. Casteel 2013

2. Inventor, Armonica Franklin redesigned an existing instrument, the crystallophone . It quickly became popular in America and Europe—Marie Antoinette took lessons on the instrument as a child, and composers including Bach, Beethoven, and Strauss all made music for the armonica specifically. 

3. Inventor, Bifocals • Franklin was always switching between pairs of glasses to see close up and in the distance. He cut half a lens from each pair of glasses and combined them into one lens creating the bifocals.

4. Inventor, Cartographer of Gulf Stream As U.S. Deputy Post Master General, Franklin received a complaint that letters sent from Europe to America took longer to arrive than ones sent from the America to Europe. Franklin made the first map of the Gulf Stream. When sea captains took into account the northeast moving current, they managed to shave up to two weeks off their travel times.

5. Inventor, Odometer Franklin created an odometer to measure the mileage travelled by his carriage during his time as Post Master. He measured the circumference of his carriage wheel—13 and one-fifth feet—and designed a series of cogs that noted a distance of one mile after every 400 revolutions. The odometer he created was the design that would ultimately be used in automobiles.

6. Inventor, Lightning Rod Franklin proved that lightning carried an electrical charge. To protect buildings and homes he invented a lightning rod. The rod was made of iron and mounted tothe top of a structure. When struck by lightning, the rod would channel the electric charge to the ground, thereby protecting buildings from fire.

7. Inventor, Franklin Stove Franklin designed the mid-room furnace as a more safe and efficient way to heat homes. In early America, rooms were heated with a fireplace set into a wall. Because heat radiates from a fire in all directions, a fireplace was inefficient. The cast-iron furnace could be placed in the middle of a room and the heat it generated would spread out in all directions. The stove provided warmth even after the fire went out.

8. Inventor, Flexible Urinary Catheter In Franklin's day, catheters (tubes inserted through the urethra into the bladder to drain urine from the body) were rigid and quite painful. Franklin devised a catheter with a flexible tube. John, Franklin’s older brother, suffered from kidney stones, and so Ben found a way to ease some of the discomfort for his brother.

9. Franklin, Philanthropist • phi·lan·thro·pist • noun\fə-ˈlan(t)-thrə-pist\ • : a wealthy person who gives money and time to help make life better for other people Ben Franklin made it his goal to give back to his community and provide opportunities for the future.

10. Philanthropist, Penn. Hospital A friend of Franklin’s was unable to raise money for a public hospital to serve the mentally ill and poor of Philadelphia. Franklin, organized an information campaign and the hospital was founded in 1751. The Pennsylvania Hospital is considered to be the first public hospital in the United States.

11. Philanthropist, Fire Fighter Franklin wanted Philadelphia to have fire-fighting clubs similar to the ones he had seen in Boston.  He organized the Union Fire Company in 1736 and later the first fire insurance company. Members of the fire company pledged to help one another should fire break out or threaten one of their homes or businesses. Not only would they attempt to put out the flames, members would also help save goods within the building and protect the building from looters. Members were not required to help protect properties of non-members. 

12. Philanthropist, Education Franklin’s formal education lasted only two years.  In 1731 he founded what was the first public library in America, chartered in 1742 as the Philadelphia Library. He strongly believed in the pursuit of knowledge by all people and anonymously printed a pamphlet urging the creation of an academy (college). He and his friends established the Academy of Philadelphia, 1751, that later became the University of Pennsylvania. Bronze statue with pigeon, reading Penn. Gazette, Univ. of Pennsylvania http://benfranklinlive.org/about/about-benjamin-franklin-1706-1790/

13. Diplomat • dip·lo·mat • ˈdipləˌmat/ • noun • 1. • an official representing a country abroad.

14. Diplomat and Founding Father Benjamin Franklin is the only Founding Father to have signed all four of the key documents establishing the U.S.: the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Treaty of Alliance with France (1778), the Treaty of Paris establishing peace with Great Britain (1783), and the U.S. Constitution (1787).

15. Diplomat, France In the fall of 1776 Franklin was sent overseas to negotiate a military alliance with the French. His trip resulted in an alliance between the United States and France. Each nation pledged to defend the other in the event of an attack by the British. In 1778, Americans desperately needed French support in the form of loans, military supplies, and troops. This aid enabled the Americans to win their independence from Great Britain. The French adored Franklin. His image appeared on medallions, rings, watches, and snuffboxes. The fashionable ladies adopted styles “a la Franklin” in imitation of the fur cap he wore instead of a wig. 

16. Diplomat, England Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay negotiated the Treaty of Paris, 1783. This treaty officially ended the American Revolution. Britain recognized the independence of the United States of America; agreed to remove all of its troops from the new nation; and recognized the new borders of the United States.

17. Sources • http://web.mit.edu • http://gizmodo.com/5735820/benjamin-franklins-most-enduring-inventions • http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/info/inventions.htm • http://www.history.com/videos/meet-benjamin-franklin#meet-benjamin-franklin • http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/l3_inquiring_little.html • https://www.google.com/search?q=diplomat%2C+definition&oq=diplomat%2C+definition&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i59j69i60j69i61j69i60l2.4049j0j4&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8