Benjamin Franklin
January 17, 1706 – April 17, 1790
American polymath, printer and Founding Father who helped draft the Declaration of Independence, served as the first U.S. postmaster general and minister to France, and published Poor Richard's Almanack.
Biography
Benjamin Franklin was an American printer, writer, scientist, inventor and statesman. He published Poor Richard's Almanack, founded a library, a fire company and the institution that became the University of Pennsylvania, and became famous in Europe for his experiments with electricity and his invention of the lightning rod.
He helped draft and signed the Declaration of Independence. As American envoy in Paris he secured the 1778 alliance with France and helped negotiate the 1783 Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War. In his last years he was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and president of an abolitionist society.
Affiliations
Education
- Jan 1, 1714 – Jan 1, 1716 Boston Latin School
Employment
- Nov 13, 1749 – May 24, 1754 University of Pennsylvania First president of the Academy and College of Philadelphia, later the University of Pennsylvania
