1738 Begins to study French, Italian, Spanish, and Latin.
1736 Chosen clerk of the General Assembly; forms the Union Fire
Company of Philadelphia.
1737 Elected to the Assembly; appointed Deputy Postmaster-General;
plans a city police.
1742 Invents the open, or "Franklin," stove.
1743 Proposes a plan for an Academy, which is adopted 1749 and
develops into the University of Pennsylvania.
1744 Establishes the American Philosophical Society.
1746 Publishes a pamphlet, "Plain Truth," on the necessity for
disciplined defense, and forms a military company; begins
electrical experiments.
1748 Sells out his printing business; is appointed on the
Commission of the Peace, chosen to the Common Council,
and to the Assembly.
1749 Appointed a Commissioner to trade with the Indians.
1751 Aids in founding a hospital.
1752 Experiments with a kite and discovers that lightning is an
electrical discharge.
1753 Awarded the Copley medal for this discovery, and elected a
member of the Royal Society; receives the degree of M.A.
from Yale and Harvard. Appointed joint Postmaster-General.
1754 Appointed one of the Commissioners from Pennsylvania to the
Colonial Congress at Albany; proposes a plan for the union
of the colonies.
1755 Pledges his personal property in order that supplies may be
raised for Braddock's army; obtains a grant from the Assembly
in aid of the Crown Point expedition; carries through a bill
establishing a voluntary militia; is appointed Colonel,
and takes the field.
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