Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin is one of the most celebrated Founding Fathers of the United States. Born in Boston in 1706, he later moved to Philadelphia, where he rose to prominence as a printer, writer, inventor, scientist, entrepreneur, and statesman. He is best known for helping to draft both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States; his other accomplishments include negotiating the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War; publishing Poor Richard’s Almanack; and creating the first American lending library. He died in 1790, though his wit and wisdom—along with many of his inventions, such as bifocals and the Franklin stove—survive to this day.