According to physicists, although Franklin advanced the science of electricity, he did not ‘found’ it with his famous kite and critical experiment.
Benjamin Franklin is said to have flown a kite during a rainstorm on this day in history, June 10, 1752, to collect an ambient electrical charge in a Leyden jar. This receptacle might store an electrical account for later use.
This might allow him to illustrate the link between lightning and electricity.
Franklin became interested in electricity in the mid-1740s when much was still unknown. According to History.com, he performed electrical experiments for over a decade.
Franklin developed many terminologies that are still used in this profession today, including battery, conductor, and electrician, and he is well-known for other significant innovations like the lightning rod.
According to The Franklin Institute of Philadelphia, the rain started to pour from the skies of Philadelphia on a June day in 1752, and Franklin chose to fly a kite.
He was said to have flown a basic kite built from a huge silk handkerchief, hemp thread, and silk string. He carried a home key, a Leyden jar, and a piece of wire with him.
Franklin’s son, William, is said to have helped him with the experiment.
According to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Franklin did not discover electricity during this experiment – or at all, for that matter.
“For over a thousand years, electrical forces had been recognized, and scientists had worked extensively with static electricity.” Franklin’s experiment “demonstrated the relationship between lightning and electricity,” according to the organization.
“It’s a common myth that Franklin discovered electricity,” LiveScience.com writes.
“Electricity had already been discovered and used for centuries before Franklin’s experiment,” the website continues.
According to the article, electricity was considered “the interaction between two different fluids, which Franklin later referred to as ‘plus’ and’minus,'” during his time.
According to The Franklin Institute, Franklin continued his study with electricity after his claimed successful display, perfecting his lightning rod creation.
“In 1753, he received the prestigious Copley Medal from the Royal Society, in recognition of his ‘curious experiments and observations on electricity,'” according to this site.
Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in Boston, Massachusetts, to candle and soap manufacturers Josiah Franklin and Abiah Folger.
Franklin’s formal schooling ended at the age of ten, and he went to work as an apprentice to his printer brother, James.
After a disagreement with his brother, Franklin left Boston and relocated to Philadelphia, where he resumed his career as a printer. He was a successful businessman in Philadelphia, publishing the Pennsylvania Gazette and Poor Richard’s Almanac, a collection of “homespun proverbs advocating hard work and honesty in order to get ahead,” according to History.com.
His saying, “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise,” written in 1733, still has modern appeal.
According to The Benjamin Franklin House in London, Benjamin Franklin – physicist, diplomat, philosopher, inventor, one of the United States founding fathers, and more — resided at 36 Craven Street in London for almost 16 years, between 1757 and 1775.
“While he may have been in London as chief colonial diplomat, his time here encompassed much more than politics,” the book mentions.
According to Mountvernon.org, Benjamin Franklin first visited London as a teenage printer in the mid-1720s and remained for 18 months.
“He returned in 1757 as the most famous American in the world,” according to the website.
While he came to Britain as a delegate of the Pennsylvania Assembly, “his prestige was founded on something entirely different,” the article says.
“Franklin was a famous scientist in the Atlantic World, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and friends with many of the leading intellectuals of the day, including Joseph Priestley, David Hume, Erasmus Darwin, and Richard Price.”
Beyond his scientific triumphs, such as the ‘key in a thunderstorm’ experiment, he served as a statesman for four decades.
“He served as a legislator in Pennsylvania as well as a diplomat in England and France, and Franklin is said to be the only politician to have signed all four documents fundamental to the creation of the U.S.: the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Treaty of Alliance with France (1778), the Treaty of Paris (1783), which established peace with Great Britain, and the U.S. Constitution (1787),” according to History.com.
