When Benjamin Franklin was 17 years old, he did that most American of activities: He ran away from home. More precisely, ...

When the United States of America was almost strangled in the crib, it was rescued by a portly old man who could barely walk. In December 1776, the mighty British army and navy had been defeating the ...

Benjamin Franklin experimented with electricity on fowl. Portrait of Benjamin Franklin by Joseph Duplessis, courtesy of The Library of Congress In 1751 Benjamin Franklin planned an electrical ...

Benjamin Franklin understood something fundamental about money that still shapes modern economies: Money only works when people believe it is real. In the early 18th century, the British colonies ...