Benjamin Franklin ( 1706 - 1790 )

Birth: Milk Street, Boston, Massachusetts (17 January 1706) Death: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (17 April 1790) Burial: Christ Church burial ground, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Research Field: Electricity, general physics, oceanography, meteorology, promotion and support of science and international cooperation Education: LLD (1759, St Andrews) Career: Worked with his father, a tallow chandler; apprenticed to his brother James, a printer who started a newspaper about 1709; went to London and worked in a printing office in Bartholomew Close (1724-1726?); returned to Philadelphia and established a printing house; bought the Pennsylvania Gazette (1729); began publishing "Poor Richard's almanac" (1732); Clerk of the Assembly (1736); Postmaster of Philadelphia (1737); Postmaster General for the colonies (1754); experimented on electricity (1749 and 1752) and suggested the use of lightning conductors; was sent to Great Britain (1757 and 1764-1775); received the Freedom of St Andrews; sent to Paris (1776); returned to Philadelphia (1785); elected President of the State of Pennsylvania; delegate to the Convention which framed the Constitution of the United States; retired from public life (1788) Membership: Fellow Election Date: 29/05/1756 Medals/Prizes: Copley Medal 1753 for his curious experiments on electricity.