A Self Made Man

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Benjamin Franklin was one of my favorite characters from history. Famous for so many inventions such as electricity,the Poor Richard's Almanac, and the bifocal I think that if I had the choice of meeting someone from the past it would be him. He was fascinating and so smart and innovative. He wrote his own autobiography at the age of sixty five. Born into a family of seventeen children. He wrote for a time as one widow named Silence Dogood when apprenticed to his older brother's business. Among other inventions he invented the franchise and franchised his printing shop all over the country. This was a partnership where he would supply the equipment and the franchiser would do all the work while Franklin took half of the profits. He also started the lending library in Philadelphia. No longer were books just for the rich. He also wrote songs and loved to sing. He charted a gulf stream with his phonetic alphabet was his only failure. My favorite of his inventions was the glass harmonica. This was made of of twenty five bowls collected on a iron rod and rotated by a foot petal. The friction from his wet fingers placed along the bowls made a musical tone. One thing many don't realize about Franklin is that he never patented any of his inventions. Never made money from them. He felt that improving the lives of the people was more important than personal gain.