b. January 17, 1706 Boston, Massachusetts -- d. April 17, 1790, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
m. Deborah Read Rogers 1730 (1708-1774)
two sons: William b. 1731 (mother unknown; prob. Deborah) -- d. 1813
Francis b. 1732 -- d. 1736
daughter: Sarah ("Sally") b. 1743 -- d. 1808
1729 sole owner and publisher of the Pennsylvania Gazette
1732-1758 publishes the annual Poor Richard: An Almanack
1737 appointed Postmaster of Philadelphia
1739 with his Leather Apron Club opens the first lending library in America, Philadelphia
1748 sells printing office, retiring from business
1751 his book Experiments and Observations on Electricity is published in London
1752, June, famous kite experiment
1752 founds first American fire insurance company
1769 elected President of the American Philosophical Society
1775 elected to Continental Congress; submits Articles of Confederation of United Colonies
1776 signs the Declaration of Independence; presides at Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention; sails to France as American Commissioner
1778 negotiates and signs Treaty of Alliance with France
1779 appointed Minister to France
1782 negotiates, with John Adams and John Jay, the Treaty of Peace with Great Britain
1783 in Paris, watches the Montgolfier brothers become the first men to fly in a balloon
1784 negotiates treaties with Prussia and other European countries
1787 elected president of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery; delegate to the Constitutional Convention
Benjamin Franklin's 300th Birthday
The World of Benjamin Franklin
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin and the Armonica - the Glass Harmonica
Benjamin Franklin: What to Remember About America's Favorite Polymath
Benjamin Franklin: An Enlightened American
Benjamin Franklin by Edmund S. Morgan