Death of Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin died on 17 April 1790 in Philadelphia, aged 84. An American polymath born in Boston, Franklin was a printer, writer, scientist, inventor and diplomat. He became wealthy publishing Poor Richard's Almanack and the Pennsylvania Gazette, and he founded a library, a fire company and the institution that became the University of Pennsylvania. His experiments with electricity, including the study of lightning, led to the invention of the lightning rod, and he also devised bifocal glasses and a more efficient stove. A signer of the Declaration of Independence, he served as ambassador in France, where he helped secure the alliance that aided the American cause, and later helped negotiate the peace treaty with Britain. He also took part in the 1787 Constitutional Convention.

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