Happy 300th Birthday Benjamin Franklin

Guinnessy writes "Benjamin Franklin was born on 17 January 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts. Franklin was a man of diverse talents: publisher, inventor, ambassador, politician, wit with some human frailities says NPR. In Physics Today, Philip Krider presents Franklin's work on electricity and the development of the lightning rod, work whose fame helped Franklin obtain aid from the French against the British. In the same magazine, Joost Mertens considers Franklin's explorations of the calming effects of oil on water. Those investigations, it turns out, had a less than calming effect on Dutch scholars. Philadelphia is planning a series of events celebratng Franklin's life throughtout the year."

Wish you were here

[digitaldc]

Ben Franklin, oh how we need people like him today.

Some great quotes from Poor Richard's Almanack:

• Drive thy Business, or it will drive thee.
  He that falls in love with himself will have no rivals.
  Setting too good an example is a kind of slander seldom forgiven.
  Experience keeps a dear school, yet fools will learn in no other.
  Write with the learned, pronounce with the vulgar.
  Necessity never made a good bargain.
  Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.
  Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that's the stuff life is made of.
  If your Riches are yours, why don't you take them with you to t'other World?
  A good conscience is a continual Christmas.
  God heals, and the doctor takes the fee.
  Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
  Laws too gentle are seldom obeyed; too severe, seldom executed.
  If you'd know the value of money, go and borrow some.
  When befriended, remember it. When you befriend, forget it.

Church and State

[samkass]

He was also one of the first vocal proponents of the separation of church and state. It's because of him that "We hold these truths to be self-evident" instead of the original text, which read "We hold these truths sacred."

I'll drink to that !

[curtisk]

I wonder how many brilliant ideas came about after a relaxing romp at the ol' Hellfire Club [victorianweb.org]?

Interesting quote.

[JaxWeb]

I think Benjamin Franklin was very good, and I am glad to see him remembered.

Something I got from the website www.politicalcompass.org/:

Q:
Which founding father said of the proposed American Constitution This is likely to be administered for a course of years and then end in despotism ... when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other ?

A:
Benjamin Franklin in a speech to delegates to the US Constitutional Convention prior to the final vote.

Franklin on Older Women

[SeanDuggan]

Franklin was also a bit the ladies man. For instance, his treatise on the advantages of older women vs younger women [rjgeib.com]. I particularly like his dismissal of the lesser attractiveness...

5. Because in every Animal that walks upright, the Deficiency of the Fluids that fill the Muscles appears first in the highest Part. The Face first grows lank and Wrinkled; then the Neck; then the Breast and Arms; the lower parts continuing to the last as plump as ever; so that covering all above with a Basket, and regarding only what is below the Girdle, it is impossible of two Women to know an old one from a young one. And as in the Dark all Cats are grey, the Pleasure of Corporal Enjoyment with an old Woman is at least equal and frequently superior; every Knack being by Practice capable by improvement.

Re:Wish you were here

[corbettw]

More great Franklin quotes (not all from Poor Richard's):

Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
A countryman between two lawyers is like a fish between two cats.
A life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things. There will be sleeping enough in the grave.
A place for everything, everything in its place.
A penny saved is a penny earned.
At twenty years of age the will reigns; at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgment.
Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none.
Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards.

Re:Refused Patent

[rbrewer123]

I agree with this according to the research I've done. The counterpoint to this is that having become well-to-do in the publishing business, he could afford to give his inventions away for free.

Re:It's not really his 300th birthday

[j-pimp]

I doubt people out of the US give a flying crap about Martin Luther King Jr. His contributions were pretty much limited to repeal of the Jim crowe laws, the civil rights act, and an affirmative action program to hire black bus drivers in Montgomery county. Only one of those has national scope. Another had county scope and yet another only affected those south of the Mason Dixon line.

However, he made google's list.

Re:get your wallets out...

[danwesnor]

FYI - Benjamin Franklin is responsible for hundreds of inventions, yet refused to file a patent for any of them. In fact, he published them openly, often with explanations of how they worked, so that others could copy and use them without paying him roylties.

Our form of government

[TonyXL]

When asked what form of government the founding fathers had agreed upon, Franklin replied, "A Republic, if you can keep it".

Unfortunately, we have not, we have decended into a democracy, which Madison called, "the most vile form of government".

Do yourself a favor: look into the difference.

He'd be Fighting Mad

[cyberscan]

Benjamin Franklin was an absolute genius. Not only was he responsible for the rediscovery of electricity. he was also responsible for many other scientific advances of historic proportions. Not only that, he was also partly responsible for drafting the founding document of one of the greatest nations in history. Unfortunately he would mostly be fighting mad at how his genius has been misused by the main two political parties of today along with their corporate and special interest paymasters. These entities have distorted the intent to help pay for innovation with laws that has brought innovation to a standstill. Both Democrats and Republicans have destroyed the legal protections which the U.S. Constitution provided for the inhabitants of the U.S. In fact, the U.S.A. should be no longer known by that name. It is more appropriate to call it the "Police States of Amerika." With not only free speech stifled by the abuse of copyright and patents, property rights are now virtually unprotect as any major corporation can have a local government force people to give up their own land for a pittance. Things can be changed though. It has to be done by people not doing what they normally do. In order to make any significant change for the better and have laws passed that protect freedom to hack and free software, people will have to register to vote. Not only will have have to register, they will have to register under an ALTERNATIVE political party instead of the republicrats or demicans. There are many parties out there that fit the different agendas of many who are Slashdotters. These parties are listed below in alphabetical order:

Constitution Party http://www.constitutionparty.org/ [constitutionparty.org]
Green Party http://www.greenparty.org/ [greenparty.org]
Libertarian Party http://www.lp.org/ [lp.org]
Reform Party http://www.reformparty.org/ [reformparty.org]
Socialist Party http://www.sp-usa.org/ [sp-usa.org]
Veteran's Party http://www.veteransparty.us/ [veteransparty.us]

Some of these parties I disagree with, however, I list them to give voice to diverse ideas. Isn't it time to register and vote for candidates based on their ideas and character instead of by which one will stand a chance of winning in order to keep out the "greater evil?" The corrupt, bullshit and lie spewing Democrats are just as bad as the corrupt bullshit and lie spewing Republicans. There are much better choices. Get behind them and support them while we have a few legal protections left.

Re:get your wallets out...

[tobiathan]

for some curious information on the venerable Ben Franklin, www.fishandvisitors.com