If you are anywhere near Philadelphia later this year or in 2006 take the time to check out what the city is offering as part of $11 million worth of activities celebrating the 300th anniversary of Benjamin Franklin's birth.
It is going to be All-Ben-All-the-Time for more than a year.
Every major cultural institution in the city is involved, as well as institutions across the country, in Britain and in France.
Exhibitions, lectures, concerts, specially composed music, seminars and tours are part of the mix, with programs aimed at kids, tourists and historians.
Here are just a few facts about Benjamin Franklin, the scientist and inventor:
>Invented bifocal reading glasses.
>Invented the basic terms we use today to describe electricity.
>Invented the lightning rod.
>Designed a working battery.
>Designed the Franklin stove.
>Designed swimming equipment.
>Improved street lamp design.
>Invented a new musical instrument, the glass Armonica: Mozart and Beethoven wrote music for it.
>Invented a flexible urinary catheter.
>Designed a three-wheel odometer.
>Designed a three-wheel clock.
>Improved design of early copier.
>Investigated the Gulf Stream, design of ships' hulls, the common cold, the properties of color, lead poisoning, meteorology, population growth, refrigeration, weather forecasting, fossils, whirlwinds, Parmesan cheese, volcanic fog, astronomy.
I found a few sites to check out on the web relating to Ben Franklin. The official site for the Philadelphia celebration is at www.benfranklin300.org You can also check out the world of early america at www.earlyamerica.com Along with information about Ben Franklin, you can also read historical documents such as the Declaration of Independence on this site.
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