Quote Originally Posted by Lion View Post
Great man, as an Engineer in school, I have nothing but respect for his scientific achievements. But he was human, and not a perfect one at that. I don't know what negative stuff have been said about him, (Or rather haven't taken the time to check) but this is one reason I'm not a particular fan of the guy. Upon the rule of New France (Canada), he was convinced the way forward was unifying the entire continent under one language and religion. This did not really go over well with the French who lived in Quebec. Anyone imposing religion on someone else seems like someone who shouldn't speak on the matter imho.

http://www.cbc.ca/history/EPCONTENTSE1EP4CH1LE.html

Again, great work with lightening! Thanks Benji
No one is perfect. But there are NO politicians today (that I know of) who feel the same way the founding fathers felt about serving their country. The only people that come close are some military personnel.

Franklin was a prodigious inventor. Among his many creations were the lightning rod, glass armonica (a glass instrument, not to be confused with the metal harmonica), Franklin stove, bifocal glasses and the flexible urinary catheter. Franklin never patented his inventions; in his autobiography he wrote, "... as we enjoy great 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."

Guess why he invented the Franklin (pot bellied) stove... it was because the number one cause of death for women was their skirts catching on fire as they cooked over open flames.

In 1736, Franklin created the Union Fire Company, one of the first volunteer firefighting companies in America. In the same year, he printed a new currency for New Jersey based on innovative anti-counterfeiting techniques which he had devised.

His inventions also included social innovations, such as paying forward. Franklin's fascination with innovation could be viewed as altruistic; he wrote that his scientific works were to be used for increasing efficiency and human improvement. One such improvement was his effort to expedite news services through his printing presses.

One of the things that kids today believe is that Franklin supported slavery. It is so easy to research this and find that not only was he against slavery, he was an abolitionist.