Here’s to Benjamin Franklin: “The only President of the United States who was never President of the United States.”
–From the Firesign Theatre’s “Everything You Know is Wrong“

Oh sure, you knew Ben Franklin invented the lightning rod, daylight saving time, the Franklin furnace stove, and bifocals, but did you also know that he created the glass armonica and swim fins?

From MSNBC:

The glass armonica
Franklin loved music, playing and composing it himself. On one of many trips he would take to England he saw a performer play a tune by stroking the rims of water glasses, each a different size and filled with varying amounts of liquid. Intrigued by the concept, Franklin set about creating a more structured version of the rim trick. With a glassmaker’s help, the armonica was born. A wooden stand propped up 37 glass hemispheres on a rotating rod, which Franklin ran moistened fingers along to produce a variety of notes depending on the thickness of the glass. Both Mozart and Beethoven would eventually compose classical pieces specifically intended for the instrument.

Swim fins
An avid swimmer, Franklin was drawn to water at a young age and consistently promoted the healthy benefits of the exercise in his later writings. At the ripe old age of 11 he invented a pair of fins that, unlike today’s modern flippers, were strapped to the swimmer’s hands to help make each stroke more efficient. His contributions to the sport led to his posthumous induction into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

Ben lived a very busy life. Of the founding fathers, he was the only one to sign The Declaration of Independence, The Treaty of Alliance with France, The Treaty of Paris, and The Constitution of the United States – documents that helped free the colonies from British rule and establish the United States as an independent nation.

In September 1787, the Constitution was completed, but many delegates were disgruntled. Franklin wrote an impassioned speech, in which he used his persuasive powers to urge all delegates to sign the Constitution. Franklin admitted that it was an imperfect document but probably the best they could expect. Following the speech, the Constitution was signed. To Franklin’s disappointment, some delegates still refused to sign.

As the representatives signed the Constitution, Franklin watched. The president’s chair was at the front of the hall, and a sun was painted on the back of the chair. Franklin told some of the members near him that it was always difficult for painters to show the difference between the rising sun and the setting sun. He said that during the convention he had often looked at the painted sun and wondered “…whether it was rising or setting. But now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting sun.” (Source: Citizen Ben.)

He ran his own newspaper – The Pennsylvania Gazette – and published Poor Richard’s Almanack. He’s also the only man to have two Presidents of the United States named after him: Franklin Pierce and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Franklin invented many practical gadgets like the odometer, a rocking chair with a built-in fan (it cooled you as you rocked), and a chair that transformed into a stepladder, yet he never patented anything, believing instead that ideas should be used to benefit all people.

Maintaining his zest for living until the end, the ever-curious Franklin took an interest in everything, whether it was founding America’s first magazine, fire department, and post office; studying the phenomenon of lightning; gaining independence for America; or flirting with the French madamoiselles. His outlook on life could be summed up as dum vivimus, vivamus (while we live, let us live!).

Happy Birthday Ben! I know if you were alive today we’d all be reading Poor Richard’s Blog!

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