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"The little-known stories behind well-known inventions"

Inventor celebrates 300th birthday on Jan. 17          By Paul Niemann

[JAN. 12, 2006]  The subject of today's story worked for a brother named James, who ran The New England Courant, Boston's first newspaper, back in 1722. Wanting to write for the paper and knowing that James would not allow it, the inventor began writing articles filled with advice and opinions. He would slide them under the door of the newspaper office at night.

The writer used the pen name of a fictional middle-aged widow, Ms. Silence Dogood. The columns were a hit and, after writing 15 columns, the writer revealed the identity behind Silence Dogood. It turns out that Silence wasn't middle-aged after all. In fact, she wasn't even a woman; she was a 16-year-old boy by the name of… Ben Franklin!

Ben Franklin -- the writer, inventor, scientist, statesman, publisher and signer of the Declaration of Independence -- was born 300 years ago on Jan. 17, 1706. He was the youngest of 16 kids, including six half siblings born to his father's first wife. He was the youngest son of a youngest son, as was his father, his grandfather, his great-grandfather and his great-great-grandfather -- making it five consecutive generations of youngest sons.

Yes, the writer who later took the pen name of Richard Saunders when he wrote the popular Poor Richard's Almanack got his start as Silence Dogood. His Almanack, which he published each year for 25 years, became a best-selling book and is still available today.

But there's something else about Ben Franklin that you probably didn't know.

Ben Franklin wasn't the first person to discover electricity. He didn't even coin the word "electricity." That honor went to William Gilbert in 1600, who was the personal physician for both Queen Elizabeth I and her successor, King James.

Dr. Gilbert coined the word "electricity" from the Greek word for amber. He showed that two substances known as amber and jet would work as a magnet when rubbed together, forming the basis for static electricity. Ben Franklin improved upon those findings when he proved during his lightning-and-key experiment in 1752 that lightning and the spark from amber were basically the same thing

Ben Franklin is credited with discovering electricity because he was the first one who harnessed its use after he invented the lightning rod. Just as Gilbert's work paved the way for Franklin, Franklin's work paved the way for Edison, Tesla and others. A few other pioneers in the field of electricity who came after Franklin and whose names you might recognize include Italy's Alessandro Volta (as in electrical voltage), Scotland's James Watt, France's Andre Ampere, Germany's George Ohm, England's Michael Faraday and Italy's Luigi Galvani.

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While the application of electricity was Ben Franklin's greatest scientific achievement, he also invented many other items that we still use today -- more than 215 years after he died. Among them is the odometer, which he invented when he was postmaster general to measure the distance that mail carriers traveled. This was 80 years before the invention of postage stamps, and the amount of postage was calculated by the distance the mail carrier had to travel to deliver it. Franklin, by the way, was the first postmaster general of the United States.

He also invented bifocals, the Franklin stove, swimming fins and many other inventions. He gave away most of his inventions rather than profit from them. He was also the first person to suggest the idea of daylight-saving time, even though it wasn't implemented until long after he died.

He established the first fire department as well as the first public library. He was the first person to have his image appear on a U.S. stamp -- before any United States presidents achieved this feat. His image also appears on the largest American currency, the $100 bill.

Most people can be defined by what they did for a living or by their greatest achievements. Ben Franklin, though, can't be defined solely as a great inventor or as a publisher or as the person who harnessed electricity, because his greatest contribution was the role he played in helping the United States gain its independence from England.

Or was his greatest contribution the ability to harness electricity?

As for Dr. Gilbert, he died as a bachelor at age 60 in 1603. It's too bad that he didn't meet that middle-aged widow, Silence Dogood.

[Paul Niemann]

Paul Niemann may be reached at niemann7@aol.com. You can learn more about Ben Franklin by visiting the official Invention Mysteries website.

Copyright Paul Niemann 2006

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