Benjamin Franklin’s many discoveries make our lives easier even to this day. Born in 1706, he was one of America’s founding fathers. Franklin’s lack of access to a formal education did not prevent him from making history as one of America’s most influential and famous figures.
His many accomplishments are only part of the man’s character.
There are many facts about Franklin often overlooked. Facts you can read about here.
1. Franklin created his own alphabet
In the 1760s, Franklin developed his very own phonetic alphabet which made do without redundant letters, like C, J, Q, W, X, and Y, and even limiting letters to one vowel each. It was designed to be more natural than the existing one.
He even wrote a few sample letters using it even though his invention never caught on.
2. He was the first Postmaster General of the country
Franklin had also been a postmaster for the colonies under British rule where he surveyed roads and post offices, even coming up with a simple accounting method for postmasters.
3. He was pretty much a celebrity
The French even used his image on different items with engravings of the American in spectacles hanging in their apartments. Franklin’s autobiography was even published in French first!
4. The US Chess Hall Of Fame inducted Franklin
He always looked for challengers to polish his skills as well.
5. He helped improve fire prevention
All of his efforts saw the establishment of the Union Fire Company, also known as Benjamin Franklin’s Bucket Brigade, in 1736.
6. Franklin is in the International Swimming Hall Of Fame
Franklin’s friend suggested he open a swimming school in the 1720s which he didn’t do, but he still advocated for children to learn how to swim. Franklin went on to receive an honorary induction into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
7. His gifts to Boston and Philadelphia were worth millions
A portion could be spent, but the remainder was to be saved for 100 years. The money helped build the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology in Boston.
8. Franklin was famous in France for his style
Even women began wearing wigs called “coiffure a la Franklin.” Then in 1778, Franklin began wearing a white hat which had French men doing the same.
9. He only had 2 years of formal education
ranklin was mostly self-taught becoming an author, printer, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, activist, statesman, and diplomat.
10. Franklin wrote a weekly column as a “widow”
He wrote from a widow’s perspective, talking about fashion, marriage, women’s rights, religion, and many other topics. Franklin was such a hit posing as Mrs. Dogood, that eligible bachelors in Boston pursued “her”.
His brother was not happy upon learning the truth. Franklin moved to Philadelphia the following year as he got tired of working for James.
11. Franklin was vegetarian for awhile
“When about 16 years of age, I happen’d to meet with a book written by one Tryon, recommending a vegetable diet. I determined to go into it. My brother being yet unmarried, did not keep house, but boarded himself and his apprentices in another family. My refusing to eat flesh occasioned an inconveniency, and I was frequently chid for my singularity.”
12. He never patented his inventions
“As we enjoy the advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously.”
13. Franklin was America’s first storm chaser
His theory was that waterspouts were ascending columns of air. Others thought they were filled with water.
In 1754, Franklin chased a whirlwind in Maryland on his horse. He saw it suck up leaves, branches, and other debris in the woods.
He described the tornado as such: “The progressive motion of the whirl was not so swift, but that a man on foot might have kept pace with it, but the circular motion was amazingly rapid.”
14. Bodies were discovered in his basement
A deeper excavation revealed around 1,200 pieces of bone belonging to 10 people, with six from children. The bones dated to around 200 years old, with evidence of sawing and drilling.
It wasn’t Franklin’s doing. A friend of his named William Hewson used the basement as his personal anatomy lab. No one knows if Franklin knew of Hewson’s practices.
15. He wrote about farting
Franklin sent the letter to Welsh philosopher and Unitarian minister Richard Price. Franklin suggested scientific studies to be conducted on farts, also saying that a drug should be developed to make farts less offensive. He wrote:
“It is universally well known, that in digesting our common food, there is created or produced in the bowels of human creatures, a great quantity of wind. That the permitting this air to escape and mix with the atmosphere, is usually offensive to the company, from the fetid smell that accompanies it.”
16. He almost died cooking a turkey
“A turkey is to be killed for our dinner by electrical shock, and roasted by the electrical jack, before a fire kindled by the electrified bottle.”
Naturally, Franklin electrocuted himself trying to cook the turkey.
17. Franklin believed in casual sex
He was married but Franklin had many mistresses. Some were just friends while others were his sexual partners. In his autobiography, he wrote: “the hard-to-be-governed passion of my youth had hurried me frequently into intrigues with low women that fell in my way.”
18. He took “Air Baths” by sitting naked in front of open windows
He would open the windows, increasing the air circulation in his home. Then he’d sit in front of them without any clothes on.
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