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Ending It All
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- Age 44
- Ending It All
- Seen Feb 18, 2006
No other American was this successful. On January 17, 1706 in Boston Massachusetts was the birth place of one of the greatest inventors of all time. Benjamin Franklin, the jack-of-all-trades and master of many, was not forced to do what he did, he just stated his opinion. He, Ben Franklin, has done many successful things during his life, like making the first fire department, a subscription library, postal service, an academy of higher examining, and a city hospital. This essay will focus more on his bifocals, his love for electricity, and his writings.
One famous invention by Benjamin Franklin was the two in one bifocal glasses. The top was made for seeing; the bottom was made for reading. Ben Franklin always wore glasses, but by age forty he needed reading glasses. For thirty years he had to switch glasses back and forth, until he decided he was tired of switching glasses and started to work on bifocals. It was already hard enough to get glasses to North America, and one mistake would leave Franklin with nothing. To make it work Franklin cut his glasses in half and held them together by a frame. The bifocals had four different lenses, the top half being for seeing far away, and the bottom half for reading. This invention was made to make life easier, able to read and look up to see, at the same time. With Franklin being myopic and hyperopic, he wouldn?t be changing glasses so often. Franklin was seventy eight years old when he finished the bifocals. Bifocals haven?t changed over the years, and if it wasn?t for Franklin you might not be reading this right now.
Ben Franklin was lucky to be alive. His non-stop experiments with electricity were very dangerous and he was lucky he was not killed. As you can see his experiments with electricity involved personal risk. Around age forty two he started working on his experiments with electricity. While seeing a public demonstration he fell in love with electricity. After seeing this demonstration he started to work on his experiments, one like the Leyden Jar. Early experiments of his included rubbing cloth, as in silk, against glass, this made static shocks known now as charges of electricity. Franklin came up with many electric terms like, armature, condenser, battery, and charge. Others include conductor, plus, minus, positively, negatively, and we still use these terms today. In the early 1750?s Franklin began working on the famous lightning rod. Though before that he did his most daring, but yet famous experiment, flying the kite during a thunderstorm. To make this kite he took cedar trees, cut them down, and made a cross out of the wood. The arms were very long on this kite, said to help maneuver it in the air. June of 1752 the kite was ready to fly, the kite had a key attached near the bottom of the string holding the kite up. Since it was raining, the wet rope on the kite took lightning from a cloud, bringing it down to the ground, the key stood straight up towards the cloud. This proved that lightning is electricity, all electricity on Earth is artificial, and electricity is a fluid, and can pass from object to object. Many out breaks of fires occurred from lightning. This is when Franklin came up with the lightning rod. The lightning rod stood nine feet above Franklin?s house, connected to bells inside his house. When lightning struck the house it would make the bells ring and make the whole house glow with light. One night Franklin almost caught his house on fire, he immediately disconnected the lightning rod from his house. Other experiments include trying to cook a turkey with electricity; this resulted in Franklin being unconscious.
Benjamin Franklin knew writing since he was young. He worked with his father in a candle making shop, until he became his brother?s apprentice at his print shop at age twelve. This is where he learned printer?s trade at a very young age. Franklin had to educate himself with books; he even sent things in to be published in his brother?s print shop under the pen name, Silence Dogood. At age twenty two he started his own print shop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ben Franklin was a young age when he started his own news paper, Pennsylvania Gazette, only twenty three. At age thirty seven Ben Franklin started using Richard Saunders as a pen name for the Poor Richard?s Almanac. Some samples are Gifts much expected, are paid, not given; Setting to good an example is a kind of Slander seldom forgiven.
As you can now see, Ben Franklin was very successful. He has helped America in many ways with the bifocals, and finding electricity in the sky. Like I have said Ben Franklin was not forced to do these things, he chose to. His writings might not have helped as much, but it kept us busy. Like a wise man once said, ?I tried to cook the turkey and nearly fried my goose!?
^.^ It is so good! My son wrote it! ^.^
One famous invention by Benjamin Franklin was the two in one bifocal glasses. The top was made for seeing; the bottom was made for reading. Ben Franklin always wore glasses, but by age forty he needed reading glasses. For thirty years he had to switch glasses back and forth, until he decided he was tired of switching glasses and started to work on bifocals. It was already hard enough to get glasses to North America, and one mistake would leave Franklin with nothing. To make it work Franklin cut his glasses in half and held them together by a frame. The bifocals had four different lenses, the top half being for seeing far away, and the bottom half for reading. This invention was made to make life easier, able to read and look up to see, at the same time. With Franklin being myopic and hyperopic, he wouldn?t be changing glasses so often. Franklin was seventy eight years old when he finished the bifocals. Bifocals haven?t changed over the years, and if it wasn?t for Franklin you might not be reading this right now.
Ben Franklin was lucky to be alive. His non-stop experiments with electricity were very dangerous and he was lucky he was not killed. As you can see his experiments with electricity involved personal risk. Around age forty two he started working on his experiments with electricity. While seeing a public demonstration he fell in love with electricity. After seeing this demonstration he started to work on his experiments, one like the Leyden Jar. Early experiments of his included rubbing cloth, as in silk, against glass, this made static shocks known now as charges of electricity. Franklin came up with many electric terms like, armature, condenser, battery, and charge. Others include conductor, plus, minus, positively, negatively, and we still use these terms today. In the early 1750?s Franklin began working on the famous lightning rod. Though before that he did his most daring, but yet famous experiment, flying the kite during a thunderstorm. To make this kite he took cedar trees, cut them down, and made a cross out of the wood. The arms were very long on this kite, said to help maneuver it in the air. June of 1752 the kite was ready to fly, the kite had a key attached near the bottom of the string holding the kite up. Since it was raining, the wet rope on the kite took lightning from a cloud, bringing it down to the ground, the key stood straight up towards the cloud. This proved that lightning is electricity, all electricity on Earth is artificial, and electricity is a fluid, and can pass from object to object. Many out breaks of fires occurred from lightning. This is when Franklin came up with the lightning rod. The lightning rod stood nine feet above Franklin?s house, connected to bells inside his house. When lightning struck the house it would make the bells ring and make the whole house glow with light. One night Franklin almost caught his house on fire, he immediately disconnected the lightning rod from his house. Other experiments include trying to cook a turkey with electricity; this resulted in Franklin being unconscious.
Benjamin Franklin knew writing since he was young. He worked with his father in a candle making shop, until he became his brother?s apprentice at his print shop at age twelve. This is where he learned printer?s trade at a very young age. Franklin had to educate himself with books; he even sent things in to be published in his brother?s print shop under the pen name, Silence Dogood. At age twenty two he started his own print shop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ben Franklin was a young age when he started his own news paper, Pennsylvania Gazette, only twenty three. At age thirty seven Ben Franklin started using Richard Saunders as a pen name for the Poor Richard?s Almanac. Some samples are Gifts much expected, are paid, not given; Setting to good an example is a kind of Slander seldom forgiven.
As you can now see, Ben Franklin was very successful. He has helped America in many ways with the bifocals, and finding electricity in the sky. Like I have said Ben Franklin was not forced to do these things, he chose to. His writings might not have helped as much, but it kept us busy. Like a wise man once said, ?I tried to cook the turkey and nearly fried my goose!?
^.^ It is so good! My son wrote it! ^.^