Color enhanced etching of Benjamin Franklin by H. B. Hall,1879. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Franklin was an author,printer,political theorist,politician,postmaster,scientist,musician,inventor,satirist,civic activist,statesman and diplomat. As a scientist,he invented the lightning rod,bifocals,the Franklin stove,a carriage odometer,and the glass 'armonica'. He formed both the first public lending library in America and the first fire department in Pennsylvania. In 1776,he was appointed a member of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence |