This
year marks the 304th birthday of Benjamin Franklin (1706-90), one of the
broadest and most creative minds of his time – statesman, scientist,
writer, printer, and inventor. Franklin devised the Franklin stove, a
great improvement over its predecessors, in 1743. This portable,
coal-burning iron fireplace had a pipe connecting it to the chimney,
producing heat cheaply and relatively efficiently. Franklin’s other
inventions include Franklin’s bifocals, and his famous experiment with a
kite during a thunderstorm in 1762 led to his development of the Franklin
lightening rod. Every branch of science held his interest, but Franklin’s
contributions to mankind did not end here. Among many civic achievements,
he founded America’s first circulating library, set up Philadelphia’s
first fire company, established what is now the University of
Pennsylvania, organized the American Philosophical Society, wrote and
published Poor Richard’s Almanack – which sold 10,000 copies a year – and
published the Pennsylvania Gazette, the most widely circulated newspaper
in colonial America. Where he found the time to be a famous flirt, to put
it mildly, is hard to figure. The Franklin tree, or Franklinia, is also
named after Benjamin Franklin. This species has an unusual history –
introduced into cultivation from the wild in 1770 by America’s first
botanist, John Bartram, no one has been able to find it in its wild state
since.