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Benjamin Franklin was a writer, printer, inventor and diplomat.
He was the only person to sign four historic documents.
They are the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Alliance with France, the Treaty of Peace with Great Britain and the Constitution of the United States.
Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts.
He left school at the age of ten because his parents could not pay for his education.
He taught himself mathematics, science and five foreign languages.
He moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the age of seventeen.
He worked for several printers.
Then he bought his own print shop.
He wrote and published a newspaper called the Pennsylvania Gazette.
He became well known as the paper became successful.
Franklin had even more success with a publication called “Poor Richard’s Almanac”.
It was famous for wise sayings that people still use today.
Here is one: “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”.
Benjamin Franklin wanted to improve life in Philadelphia.
He served as its postmaster.
He helped establish the first library and organized a fire department.
He started a program to light city streets, gathered money to open a hospital and helped establish the city’s first university.
Benjamin Franklin was also a scientist.
His experiments proved that lightning is a current of electricity.
He invented the lightning rod to protect buildings from damage.
He also invented a stove that heated a room more effectively than others.
Benjamin Franklin helped establish the United States government by helping to write the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Later, he served as a diplomat to France.
He died in 1790, at the age of 84.