Franklin's Other Side
Franklin explored DST while living in the heart of London. The Ben Franklin House
The newly remodeled Benjamin Franklin House, where Franklin lived for 16 years, stands at 36 Craven Street, in the heart of London.
The house, built in 1730, will open to the public for the first time as a dynamic museum, just in time for his 300th birthday on January 17, 2006.
This is where Franklin lived when he conducted important experiments such as:
- Measuring the effects of the Gulf Stream;
- Exploring Daylight Saving Time;
- Inventing bi-focal lenses;
- Inventing the glass armonica.
Close Master of all trades
Hoping to provide the world with more time to do productive work during the summer instead of during the harsh winter, Franklin proposed Daylight Saving Time (DST).
Daylight Saving Time
Daylight saving time (DST) allows us to take advantage of summer by advancing our clocks by an hour during the spring. By doing so, the sunset and sunrise appear one hour later than during normal time.
DST also helps to save energy, as less artificial light is needed during the evenings! During autumn the clock is wound back an hour and the cycle continues.
Close Aren't libraries the most ingenious system? They are an inexhaustible source of knowledge to the public. We have young Franklin to thank for this.
The First Lending Library At the age of 21, Franklin established the first lending library in America.
It not only housed a variety of books, but also exhibited specimens of natural history:
- Stuffed snakes;
- A dead pelican
- A collection of fossils!
Close A fun kind of guy!
Franklin invented by trial and error. In contrary to the solemn man that many accounts of history portray him to be, Benjamin Franklin often proved to be a rather playful fellow. Read this account!
A Playful FellowA crowd of people once gathered outside Franklin's house hoping to catch a glimpse of the scientist's discoveries. To rid himself of the distraction, Franklin sent a harmless jolt of electricity though the iron fence surrounding his house!
The people soon left him alone.
Close Benjamin Franklin may or may not have been a math genius, but when conducting his experiments, he would deliberately avoid the use of mathematics.
Was he a Math Genius?When he was visiting his friend one day, the friend showed him a French book filled with magic squares. His friend noted that the book was written by a Frenchman, and that several other foreigners had done something similar, but not any Englishman.
Franklin replied that the lack of English involvement was, 'perhaps a mark of the good sense of our English mathematicians that they would not spend their time in things that were merely difficiles nugae, incapable of any useful application.'
After some discussion, Franklin confessed that, 'in my younger days, having once some leisure which I still think I might have employed more usefully, I had amused myself in making these kind of magic squares...'
What do you think: was he a math genius, or not?
Close Instead, he preferred trial and error and often worked with simple objects like glass tubes, gun barrels, corks and wax plates.
Franklin signed all four of the documents that helped create the United States. Wisdom of the ages
Franklin himself says that many of his sayings and maxims were gleaned from the "wisdom of the ages and nations."
He had a long life to acquire that wisdom. On April 17, 1790, Franklin passed away peacefully at the age of 84. Twenty thousand people attended the funeral.
True or False: Andrew Jackson held parties at the White House and opened them to the public.
Click Andrew's head for the answer.
TRUE: Jackson was known for allowing the public to attend his White House parties.
contributed by
Jodi
Singapore
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