Benjamin Franklin became popular for his contribution in drafting the Independence Declaration and Constitution of the United States. Benjamin is indeed inevitable to the history of the US. However, there are still other interesting facts about Benjamin Franklin that most people should be aware of. What are these?
Little do people know that Benjamin came from quite a large family. As a matter of fact, Josiah Franklin, his father, had two wives and this resulted with 17 children. Benjamin was from his father’s second wife. With that, he was the 8th child. However, they were 15. This made it possible for him to work with his siblings. He got to collaborate with them in a print shop when he was only 12 years old.
Aside from his odd family, Ben was also an innate writer. His passion for the written words started when he was still young. However, he was only able to make this formal when he started working. There was only a time when his brother did not agree to have his work published. Good thing, his efforts were realized because he was able to bring his writing somewhere else. He was able to have it published that way. It was responsible for his writings’ fame today.
There was a time in the life of Ben when he volunteered as a fireman. This was still unlikely but it was the truth. He was also fascinated with giving back to his community. There was a department he decided to be a volunteer of. This is referred to as the Union Fire Community. However, there were times when this was called the Benjamin Franklin’s Bucket Brigade. He volunteered to work here for so many times. He even wrote articles regarding fire safety.
The glass harmonica was also invented by Ben. He was responsible in designing it. There were times when it was also termed as the armonica. This occurred in the year 1761. The instrument can create various musical tones. This utilized size glass bowls. This can be compared to an old-fashioned version of a crystal glass in which the finger may be rubbed.
Franklin was also flexible for he could speak various languages, five to be precise. He was well-verse in Spanish, Latin, French and Italian. Of course, he knew English very well. He was capable of such because he would always look for various ways in improving himself. He realized that if he was to be fluent in other languages, his future would be of great help.
Since he was born curious, there was a time when he was almost killed because of his experiments. This even occurred twice. He was only able to survive because he was not able to receive enough charge. If it did not turn out this way, he could have been paralyzed because of the apparent electric shock. There was a time when this transpired because he wants to have a turkey killed through electrical shock.