Benjamin Franklin, American printer and publisher, author, inventor and scientist, and diplomat. One of the foremost of the American Founding Fathers, he helped draft the Declaration of Independence. He also made important contributions to science, especi

Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 [O.S. January 6, 1705[1 – April 17, 1790) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author and printer, satirist, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scient

Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in colonial Boston. His father, Josiah Franklin (1657-1745), a native of England, was a candle and soap maker who married twice and had 17 children.