Ben Franklin, a little Trivia

Some facts I never knew










Ben Franklin was born on
January 17, 1706,
in Boston, Massachusetts.




It was a devoted Puritan household.
(The Puritans were a religious
group that stood
against the practices of the
Church of England.) In 1683 his
family had left England and moved
to New England in search of
religious freedom. Franklin's father was
a candlemaker and a mechanic,
but, his son said, his "great Excellence lay in
a sound Understanding, and solid Judgment."
Franklin also praised his mother,
who raised a family of thirteen children.

Father: Josiah Franklin –
a candle maker and devout Anglican.

Mother: Abiah Folger -
orphaned at 12 and regarded as being
being extremely demanding.

Siblings: Nine brothers and sisters
and nine half brothers and half sisters.
He was apprenticed to his brother James
who was a printer.

Wife:
Deborah Read. She had actually been
married to a man named John Rodgers
who fled without giving her a divorce.
Therefore, she was unable to marry Franklin.
They lived together and had a common law
marriage in 1730.

Children:
Franklin had one illegitimate child
named William who was the last
loyalist governor of
New Jersey. The mother of his child
was never established. William lived
with and was raised by his father and Deborah Read.
He also had two children with Deborah:
Francis who died when he was four and Sarah.

I always liked his Quotes.

Benjamin Franklin 1706 - 1790
1735 - Poor Richard's Almanac
"Some are weather-wise, some are otherwise."

April 1735 - Poor Richard's Almanac
"Necessity never made a good bargain."
1748 "Remember that time is money."

1758 - Poor Richard's Almanac
"He that lives upon hope will die fasting."
1758 - Poor Richard's Almanac
"A little neglect may breed mischief ...
for want of a nail, the shoe was lost;
for want of a shoe the horse was lost;
and for want of a horse the rider was lost."

July 1776 -
At the Signing of the Declaration of Independence:
"We must indeed all hang together,
or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately."


September 11, 1783
"There never was a good war, or a bad peace."


November 13, 1789 -
Letter to Jean Baptiste Le Roy:
"In this world nothing can be said to be certain,
except death and taxes."

April 1778 "Man is a tool-making animal."
When asked what was the use of a new invention,
Franklin replied:
"What is the use of a new-born child?"


Facts I didn't know

that Franklin belongs to 14 different Halls of Fame
Franklin has TWO birthdays?

in 1783 Franklin witnessed the first manned balloon flight

Franklin’s picture has appeared on every $100 bill since 1928?

Franklin published the first non-English language newspaper in colonial America?
Franklin wrote to, and received mail from at least 650 different correspondents
Franklin was the first to propose daylight saving time

Franklin loved music
Franklin invented the first flexible catheter?
Franklin nearly became a swimming coach?
Franklin suggested that the turkey be the national bird, rather than the

Hope you enjoyed this trivia.
I bounced around the net to get info.

Posted by Yvonne @ La Petite Gallery
Comments are welcome