Word: franklins
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...PENNSYLVANIAN FIREPLACE Franklin had nothing to do with the potbellied stove known by his name today. Rather, his invention was a complicated-and ultimately unsuccessful-device intended to force heat into a room while carrying smoke away. But installing the stove meant rebuilding an entire fireplace, and the device apparently couldn't generate enough air flow to force the smoke out. Nevertheless, Franklin's invention was an important stepping-stone in the development of more efficient home heating...
ARMONICA Inspired by a man who played melodies by rubbing his wet fingers around the rims of wine glasses, Franklin built a machine to mimic the process. The player spun glass bowls- different sizes for each note-on a spindle and pressed wetted fingers to the glass to play tunes...
MAGIC SQUARES Franklin enjoyed creating "arithmetical curiosities" in which lines have the same sum vertically, horizontally and when "bent" (in this case...
...Sources: Franklin Institute Science Museum; American Philosophical Society; Bucks County (Pa.) Historical Society; Experiments and Observations on Electricity, by Benjamin Franklin; The Ingenious Dr. Franklin, edited by Nathan G. Goodman; Benjamin Franklin's Science, by I. Bernard Cohen; "The Myth of the Franklin Stove," by Samuel Edgerton, Early American Life magazine, June 1976; Benjamin Franklin, a Biographical Companion, by Jennifer L. Durham; The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, Yale University Press; Benjamin Franklin, by Walter Isaacson
...iconic moment in American history studied by generations of schoolkids. On a storm-tossed June day in 1752, Ben Franklin, joined by his son William, hoisted a kite with a wire poking out of it high over Philadelphia. As the skies darkened, the kite's hemp string bristled with electricity, like a cat's fur after being stroked. Franklin brought his knuckles close to a brass key dangling from the end of the string. A spark leaped through the air, giving him a powerful jolt--and immeasurable pleasure. No longer could anyone doubt that the small electrical charges created...