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"Lost time is never found again."
—Benjamin Franklin
Timeline of Benjamin Franklin: Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) shaped America as a statesman, scientist, inventor, and writer.
His life bridged colonial America's transformation into a republic, marking critical developments in politics and science.
This timeline traces Franklin's key achievements and their impact on American history.
Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in Boston, Massachusetts.
He was the tenth son of puritan Josiah Franklin, a soap and candle maker, and Abiah Folger.
At age 12, a young Franklin worked in his family's shop making candles and soap.
Disliking this work, he soon apprenticed under his brother James, a printer.
There, Franklin wrote anonymous pieces for James's newspaper, The New-England Courant.
Franklin used the name "Mrs. Silence Dogood" to publish satirical essays in his brother James's print shop and newspaper, The New-England Courant.
His sharp observations of colonial life drew praise from readers, while his true identity remained hidden.
In 1722, Franklin broke his apprenticeship with his brother James and fled Boston.
After finding no work in New York, he reached Philadelphia with three pennies.
Keimer's print shop hired him, where Franklin learned colonial politics via a failed assembly mission.
He briefly adopted vegetarianism to save money.
At Keimer's shop, Franklin excelled in printing and editing.
Governor Keith promised funding for Franklin's own business.
In Boston, Franklin briefly reconciled with his brother.
Arriving in London for equipment, Franklin found Keith's promises empty.
He worked at Palmer's printing house, building trade connections and to make money.
At Watts', Franklin refined his printing craft.
London's coffee houses exposed him to fierce intellectual debate.
After meeting Royal Society president Sloane and discovering Governor Keith's empty promises, merchant Thomas Denham offered Franklin work in Philadelphia.
He accepted and departed London.
In London, Franklin wrote his philosophical Deist tract "On Liberty and Necessity" while working among printers.
Thomas Denham then brought him to Philadelphia for merchant work.
After Denham's death, Franklin returned to printing at Keimer's shop.
There he produced "The Universal Instructor," combining news with encyclopedia entries.
Franklin created a weekly discussion group in Philadelphia with twelve members.
The Junto, or Leather Apron Club, launched the city's first library and fire brigade.
During his 1726 sea voyage, Franklin began tracking his behavior in a journal.
He developed a structured system of thirteen virtues to improve his character.
Franklin's brief work at Keimer's print shop ended in conflict.
Keimer's poor management pushed Franklin to plan his own business.
In 1727, James Franklin died.
Keimer's print shop in Philadelphia closed, eliminating Franklin's former employer from the market.
He joined St. John's Masonic Lodge, expanding his network among Philadelphia's influential citizens.
Franklin and Meredith launched their printing shop in Philadelphia, funded through loans.
Franklin bought and revitalized the "Pennsylvania Gazette," improving the writing and content selection.
He discovered George Whitefield's popular sermons, marking the start of their future collaboration.
He designed a phonetic alphabet with unique symbols for English sounds, though it never gained adoption.
Franklin published economic analysis advocating paper money to solve colonial currency shortages, convincing the Pennsylvania Assembly to print currency.
He created adult education programs.
His meetings with Governor Gordon secured colonial printing contracts, making him Pennsylvania's official printer.
Through the Gazette, he defended minority worship rights, arguing religious diversity strengthened commerce.
He trained printers like James Parker, who established shops across NY/NJ, expanding Franklin's colonial printing network.
In 1730, Franklin married Deborah Read.
The Pennsylvania Gazette formed the backbone of Franklin's expanding printing business, which produced books and commercial materials.
Franklin published "Apology for Printers" defending press freedom and created intricate leaf patterns for currency to prevent counterfeiting.
While competing with Bradford's American Mercury, he used his newspaper to advocate for street lamps and road paving in Philadelphia.
In 1731, Benjamin Franklin founded the Library Company of Philadelphia, America's first subscription library where members collectively purchased and shared books.
Through his Pennsylvania Gazette, Franklin continued to advocate for specific city improvements.
In 1732, Benjamin Franklin launched "Poor Richard's Almanack" under the pseudonym Richard Saunders.
The almanac's practical wisdom and wit drew widespread readership, while Franklin forged key partnerships.
He advanced public health through targeted writings on urban sanitation and cultivated intellectual exchanges with James Logan, strengthening Philadelphia's colonial influence.
In 1733, Franklin published the second edition of "Poor Richard's Almanack," expanding his influence through practical wisdom, folk sayings and protestant work ethic.
During this year, he balanced the almanac's production and faced press freedom challenges through his "Pennsylvania Gazette," because of his democratic rhetoric.
He began a significant relationship with the Great Awakening evangelist George Whitefield.
In 1734, Benjamin Franklin deepened his involvement with Philadelphia's St. John's Masonic Lodge, rising to Grandmaster and publishing "The Constitutions of the Free-Masons" — the first freemason book printed in America.
In 1736, Benjamin Franklin established Philadelphia's Union Fire Company, founded the city's first volunteer firefighting brigade, lost his four-year-old son Francis to smallpox, and secured his position as Clerk of the Pennsylvania Assembly.
The loss of his son fueled his later advocacy for smallpox inoculation.
In 1738, Benjamin Franklin advanced three key initiatives in Philadelphia:
In 1742, Benjamin Franklin invented the Franklin Stove, a cast-iron furnace that transformed colonial home heating through its innovative airflow design.
The stove burned wood more efficiently than open hearths, producing more warmth with less fuel and smoke.
In 1743, Benjamin Franklin established the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, creating America's first formal institution dedicated to scientific inquiry and practical knowledge.
Drawing inspiration from London's Royal Society, Franklin launched the organization through his proposal "For Promoting Useful Knowledge," while simultaneously pursuing his own scientific studies of weather patterns and publishing both "Poor Richard's Almanack" and his witty "The Drinker's Dictionary."
During the 1750s, Benjamin Franklin navigated multiple roles as Pennsylvania's currency printer, scientific investigator, and political advocate.
He printed paper money to fund colonial defense against French threats.
Franklin challenged Pennsylvania's proprietary family's tax exemptions, marking his shift toward colonial rights advocacy, all while building on earlier electrical research by scientists like Otto von Guerick.
During King George's War in the 1740s, Benjamin Franklin transformed Philadelphia's defense strategy via concrete action and persuasive writing.
He designed city fortifications and published "Plain Truth," which directly called for a volunteer militia to protect against French and Spanish privateers threatening the Delaware River.
In 1747, Benjamin Franklin established the Pennsylvania militia, which would evolve into the Pennsylvania National Guard.
His electrical experiments with Ebenezer Kinnersley revealed crucial distinctions between conducting and insulating materials, and his tests with grounded iron rods demonstrated their ability to attract lightning—laying the groundwork for the lightning rod's development.
In 1748, at age 42, Franklin retired his daily printing operations to his partner David Hall.
This strategic move freed him to pursue scientific research, particularly his groundbreaking work on electricity where he defined positive and negative charges.
While maintaining oversight of publications like Poor Richard's Almanack, he expanded into land speculation and deepened his botanical studies with John Bartram.
He came up with a proposal for what would become the University of Pennsylvania establishing a model for American higher learning.
The year marked Franklin's evolution from printer to polymath, blending practical business acumen with scientific discovery and institutional development.
Franklin proposed using a kite in stormy weather to prove lightning was electrical, then designed a metal rod to protect buildings from strikes.
His precise documentation of both innovations established lightning as a natural electrical phenomenon that could be controlled through deliberate engineering.
In 1751, Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Thomas Bond founded Pennsylvania Hospital—the colonies' first public hospital—to serve Philadelphia's sick and poor.
That same year, Franklin published the third edition of "Experiments and Observations on Electricity”.
His political work during this period centered on negotiations with Thomas Penn regarding Pennsylvania's governance.
In 1752, Benjamin Franklin flew a kite in a thunderstorm to prove lightning's electrical nature, then developed the lightning rod to protect buildings.
He won election to Pennsylvania's Assembly, produced an astronomical calendar, and created a flexible silver catheter for medical use.
The year also marked Britain's shift to the Gregorian calendar, dropping eleven September days.
In 1753, Benjamin Franklin's influence expanded through his joint appointment as colonial Postmaster General with William Hunter, where he improved postal efficiency by measuring routes with his newly invented odometer.
During this pivotal year, Franklin's expertise in Native American relations led him to negotiate land disputes in the Ohio River Valley, culminating in diplomatic meetings with Six Nations representatives in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
His scientific achievements peaked when the Royal Society of London awarded him the Copley Medal for his electrical experiments.
In 1754, the Albany Congress occurred.
Benjamin Franklin, representing Pennsylvania, spearheaded the gathering of colonial representatives to address frontier defense and Native American relations.
His "Join, or Die" cartoon depicting a severed snake became a potent symbol for colonial cooperation and later the Gadsden Flag.
He proposed the Albany Plan of Union which was the first concrete framework for colonial federation—though rejected, it laid groundwork for the future Constitution.
This period saw a young George Washington emerge as a military figure in the Ohio Valley, setting the stage for the two leaders' future collaboration in building a nation.
In 1755, British General Edward Braddock's expedition to capture Fort Duquesne in the Ohio Valley ended in disaster.
Benjamin Franklin supplied Braddock's army with wagons and provisions, but this support couldn't prevent the campaign's failure.
In 1757, Benjamin Franklin sailed to England as the Pennsylvania Assembly's envoy to challenge the Penn family proprietary control and advocate for Pennsylvania's conversion to royal governance.
During his time in London, he forged crucial relationships with key British figures:
This year centered on diplomatic and intellectual pursuits that shaped colonial America.
He secured Native American neutrality through the Treaty of Easton, strengthened British military support through his partnership with William Pitt.
He published "The Way to Wealth," distilling practical financial wisdom from Poor Richard's Almanack.
His scientific work on evaporative cooling and his exchanges with European intellectuals like David Hume, Lord Kames, and Sir Hans Sloane.
In 1759, British forces captured Quebec and Montreal.
That same year Franklin documented his observations of ocean currents and maritime phenomena in papers on "The Nature of the Sea”.
Britain signed the Treaty of Closterseven, ending its military alliance with Prussia and signaling a shift in European power dynamics.
George III ascended to the British throne in October, becoming a key figure in colonial relations.
Franklin published analyses of American population growth, linking demographic trends to colonial economic potential.
In 1761, as the Seven Years' War drew to its formal end in 1763, Benjamin Franklin split his time between Philadelphia and London.
During this period, Franklin crafted influential writings on colonial rights, foreshadowing revolutionary tensions.
He invented the glass armonica—a musical instrument that produced sound through wetted glass bowls.
The Treaty of Paris in 1763 marked the end of the Seven Years' War.
Britain gained vast territories from France, including Canada and lands east of the Mississippi River, while Spain received Louisiana west of the Mississippi and returned Florida to Britain.
Pontiac's Rebellion erupted as Native Americans resisted British expansion, leading to the Proclamation of 1763 that banned colonial settlement west of the Appalachians.
Franklin invented the hand paddle and resumed postal system duties.
In 1764, Benjamin Franklin faced pivotal challenges that shaped colonial-British relations.
The British Parliament enacted the Sugar Act, imposing new tariffs on colonial trade, and the Currency Act, which banned paper money in the colonies.
Franklin left his position in the Pennsylvania Assembly and returned to England as a colonial agent, extending what was planned as a brief stay into a decade-long diplomatic mission.
His controversial recommendation of John Hughes to enforce the upcoming Stamp Act damaged his reputation among colonists.
While in London, Franklin joined the Society of Arts, reflecting his scientific achievements.
He also engaged in heated debates about the Paxton Boys' attacks on Native Americans, advocating for indigenous rightsand justice.
During 1765-1767 in London, Benjamin Franklin opposed British colonial taxation through three key actions:
During 1768, Benjamin Franklin wrote his influential piece "Causes of the American Discontents before 1768" to educate British citizens about colonial grievances.
He maintained his public influence through pseudonymous newspaper writings.
He advocated for the health benefits of daily "air baths" in his private chambers.
In 1770, tensions between British authority and colonial resistance erupted in Boston when British soldiers fired into a crowd of protestors, killing five civilians in what became known as the Boston Massacre.
Franklin led forceful defense of colonial interests in London (including a heated coffeehouse debate with Admiralty Lord Robinson).
In 1771, Franklin pursued three significant ventures:
In 1773, Benjamin Franklin obtained and forwarded private letters from Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson to American leaders, revealing Hutchinson's push to restrict colonial freedoms.
The publication sparked outrage, damaged Franklin's standing in Britain, and deepened colonial resentment.
Franklin also faced a growing rift with his loyalist son William, while his work with the Committees of Correspondence helped forge crucial links between colonies as tensions mounted.
In 1773, colonial protesters dumped 342 chests of British tea into Boston Harbor, sparking a chain of events that pulled Benjamin Franklin into diplomatic crisis.
Franklin faced its consequences in London as America's representative.
His position grew precarious after a public humiliation at the Privy Council over the Hutchinson Letters, where Solicitor-General Wedderburn denounced him before British officials.
During this period, Franklin met Thomas Paine and urged his move to America, maintained dialogue with Colonial Secretary Lord Dartmouth and pursued Pennsylvania's autonomy from the Penn family.
He also sought compromise between Britain and the colonies.
In 1774, the First Continental Congress gathered in Philadelphia.
Franklin, though in London, watched as events unfolded:
These developments drove Franklin to abandon his hopes for peaceful reconciliation and return to Philadelphia in late 1774.
In 1775, mounting tensions between Britain and its American colonies erupted into open warfare.
The conflict ignited when British troops attempted to seize colonial weapons at Lexington and Concord in April, sparking armed resistance that spread rapidly across the colonies.
The Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia, appointing George Washington as commander of the Continental Army and dispatching Benjamin Franklin to seek foreign support with the help of John Adams, Thomas Jefferon and John Hancock.
Though Franklin helped craft a final peace appeal through the Olive Branch Petition, King George III's rejection made war inevitable.
In 1776, Benjamin Franklin played a pivotal role in crafting the Declaration of Independence as part of the Committee of Five, alongside Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston.
While Jefferson wrote the initial draft, Franklin's precise editorial changes—notably revising "sacred and undeniable" to"self-evident"—sharpened the document's philosophical foundation.
After the Declaration's adoption, Congress sent Franklin to France as commissioner, accompanied by his grandsons William Temple Franklin and Benjamin Franklin Bache, in order to secure a crucial military alliance against Britain.
In 1777, Benjamin Franklin leveraged his celebrity status in Paris—complete with his iconic fur cap—to advance American interests during the Revolutionary War.
His strategic relationships with French Minister Vergennes and playwright Beaumarchais secured vital military supplies, while his possession of captured British dispatches provided crucial intelligence to Washington.
The news of victory at Saratoga, combined with Franklin's skillful diplomacy and social charm (exemplified by his famous meeting with Voltaire and chess games with Madame Brillon), helped lead to an eventual alliance with France.
The Treaty of Alliance, signed on February 6, 1778, secured French military support against Britain.
Benjamin Franklin, serving as American commissioner in Paris, helped forge this agreement alongside a companion Treaty of Amity and Commerce that established formal trade relations.
In 1778, Benjamin Franklin became Minister Plenipotentiary to France.
He managed strained relationships with fellow commissioners Adams and Lee, coordinated with John Jay on Spanish recognition efforts, and conducted peace negotiations with British agents.
Franklin secured crucial French loans for the American war effort while dealing with internal security threats, including his unwitting employment of British spy Edward Bancroft.
His diplomatic work extended to supporting John Paul Jones' naval campaigns.
From his base in Paris, he countered the impact of Charleston's fall and Benedict Arnold's betrayal, ran intelligence operations against British spies, and maintained delicate negotiations with Spain without compromising French support.
The Siege of Yorktown in October 1781 brought together French and American forces in a decisive victory that ended major Revolutionary War combat.
While Franklin secured crucial French military and financial support from Paris, General Washington and French commander Rochambeau trapped British forces under Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia.
Afterwords, Franklin, Adams, and Jay would craft the treaty ending the war.
He also penned an satirical essay titled “Fart Proudly” and freed his slaves.
In 1781, peace negotiations between Britain and the United States intensified as American diplomats Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, John Adams, and Henry Laurens engaged with British negotiator Richard Oswald.
Franklin's diplomatic skill helped to secure favorable terms that would culminate in the 1783 Treaty of Paris, while his daughter Sarah Franklin Bache bolstered the war effort from home.
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War and secured American independence.
American diplomats Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay negotiated favorable terms.
Franklin also witnessed early hot air balloon flights in Paris, corresponded on scientific matters, and remained aware of domestic challenges like the Newburgh Conspiracy, where Continental Army officers nearly revolted over unpaid wages.
Beyond negotiating crucial treaties with France and Prussia, he developed practical innovations like bifocal glasses and the Franklin stove.
His investigations ranged from debunking Mesmer's pseudo-scientific claims to researching his English ancestry, while his views on slavery evolved toward abolition.
In 1785, Benjamin Franklin concluded his tenure as U.S. Minister to France.
Thomas Jefferson succeeded him in Paris, while Franklin took on new responsibilities as President of Pennsylvania'sSupreme Executive Council.
He also deepened his involvement in the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery.
In 1786, Benjamin Franklin served as President of Pennsylvania's Supreme Executive Council while advancing several crucial initiatives.
He strengthened his involvement with the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery.
When Shays' Rebellion erupted in Massachusetts, Franklin recognized it as evidence for stronger federal governance, leading him to engage with James Madison and Alexander Hamilton in discussions that would become the Federalist Papers.
From May to September 1787, fifty-five delegates gathered at Philadelphia's Independence Hall to replace the failing Articles of Confederation with a new constitution.
Under George Washington's leadership, the Convention forged the U.S. Constitution through critical compromises:
Benjamin Franklin, the eldest delegate at 81, helped broker agreements between factions, ultimately persuading all delegates to sign the final document on September 17.
In 1789, as George Washington assumed the presidency of the newly-constituted United States government, Benjamin Franklin entered his final chapter in Philadelphia.
Though confined to his home by declining health and severe gout, Franklin remained intellectually engaged.
While speculation persists about his contraction of syphilis in Europe, Franklin's focus stayed fixed on securing his legacy.
Benjamin Franklin died in Philadelphia on April 17, 1790, at age 84, with an estimated 20,000 people attending his funeral.
His final months reflected his lifelong dedication to public service:
His passing drew global recognition, including a notable eulogy from French revolutionary leader Mirabeau before the National Assembly, cementing Franklin's status as both an American founder and international luminary.
When he died his estate totaled £4,400, accumulated through his work as printer, inventor, and statesman.
In the future, workers renovating Benjamin Franklin's former Craven Street house in London uncovered 1,200 human and animal bone fragments beneath the garden.
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