SOUTH DAKOTA STRAIGHT TALK

Tuesday, January 17^th is the tri centennial of the birth of the Greatest of All Americans, Benjamin Franklin.

Perhaps America’s first blogger, Franklin, a printer by trade and pamphleteer, was the author of the Pennsylvania Gazette and Poor Richard’s Almanac that were widely read in pre revolutionary America. Franklin was instrumental in influencing America’s attitudes and opinions.

Benjamin Franklin is the only signatory to all three of the major documents relating to the founding of the United States, The Declaration of Independence, The Treaty of Paris, and The United States Constitution.

Franklin was almost everything. He was statesman, philosopher, author, and inventor. During its Continental Period he served as America’s first Diplomat and its first Postmaster General.

Among his many accomplishments were:

Convincing the British Parliament to repeal The Stamp Act.

The Invention of the Lightning Rod, the Franklin stove that eliminated many home fires, bifocals, and even the odometer. Franklin also discovered and charted the Gulf Stream and designed daylight savings time.

He founded and established the first volunteer fire department (and consequently mutual property insurance company), the first public lending library, first hospital in America, the University of Pennsylvania, and the American Philosophical Society.

America owes much to his genius.

Happy Birthday Ben!