---
title: "Benjamin Franklin"
chunk: 18/18
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:06:16.447701+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

On April 12, 1976, as part of a bicentennial celebration, Congress dedicated a 20-foot (6 m) tall marble statue in Philadelphia's Franklin Institute as the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial. Vice President Nelson Rockefeller presided over the dedication ceremony. Many of Franklin's personal possessions are on display at the institute. In London, his house at 36 Craven Street, which is the only surviving former residence of Franklin, was first marked with a blue plaque and has since been opened to the public as the Benjamin Franklin House. In 1998, workmen restoring the building dug up the remains of six children and four adults hidden below the home. A total of 15 bodies have been recovered. The Friends of Benjamin Franklin House (the organization responsible for the restoration) note that the bones were likely placed there by William Hewson, who lived in the house for two years and who had built a small anatomy school at the back of the house. They note that while Franklin likely knew what Hewson was doing, he probably did not participate in any dissections because he was much more of a physicist than a medical man.
He has been honored on U.S. postage stamps many times. The image of Franklin, the first postmaster general of the United States, occurs on the face of U.S. postage more than any other American save that of George Washington. He appeared on the first U.S. postage stamp issued in 1847. From 1908 through 1923, the U.S. Post Office issued a series of postage stamps commonly referred to as the Washington–Franklin Issues, in which Washington and Franklin were depicted many times over a 14-year period, the longest run of any one series in U.S. postal history. However, he only appears on a few commemorative stamps. Some of the finest portrayals of Franklin on record can be found on the engravings inscribed on the face of U.S. postage.

== See also ==

Benjamin Franklin in popular culture
Bibliography of early American publishers and printers
Founders Online, database of Franklin's papers
Franklin's electrostatic machine
Fugio Cent, 1787 coin designed by Franklin
List of early American publishers and printers
List of opponents of slavery
List of richest Americans in history
The Papers of Benjamin Franklin
Royal Commission on Animal Magnetism – 1784 French scientific bodies' investigations involving systematic controlled trials

== Notes ==

== Citations ==

== Bibliography ==

== External links ==

Benjamin Franklin and Electrostatics; Archived August 14, 2017, at the Wayback Machine experiments and Franklin's electrical writings from Wright Center for Science Education
Benjamin Franklin Papers, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania.
Franklin's impact on medicine – talk by medical historian, Dr. Jim Leavesley celebrating the 300th anniversary of Franklin's birth on Okham's Razor, December 2006, ABC Radio National
Video with sheet music of Benjamin Franklin's string quartet

=== Biographical and guides ===

Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
"Special Report: Citizen Ben's Greatest Virtues" – Time
"Writings of Benjamin Franklin" – American Writers: A Journey Through History by C-SPAN
Benjamin Franklin: A Documentary History – Leo Lemay at the University of Delaware
Benjamin Franklin: An extraordinary life – PBS
Benjamin Franklin: First American Diplomat, 1776–1785 – U.S. State Department
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Franklin, Benjamin" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Finding Franklin: A Resource Guide – Library of Congress
Guide to Benjamin Franklin; Archived March 16, 2010, at the Wayback Machine – Richard J. Jensen at the University of Illinois
Online edition of Franklin's personal library
The Electric Benjamin Franklin – ushistory.org
Friends of Franklin Gazette (archived)

=== Online writings ===
"A Silence Dogood Sampler" – Selections from Franklin's Silence Dogood writings
Abridgement of the Book of Common Prayer (1773), by Benjamin Franklin and Francis Dashwood, transcribed by Richard Mammana
Franklin's Last Will & Testament Transcription.
Library of Congress web resource: Benjamin Franklin ... In His Own Words
Online Works by Franklin
Works by Benjamin Franklin at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks) 
Works by Benjamin Franklin in eBook form at Standard Ebooks
Works by Benjamin Franklin at Project Gutenberg
Works by or about Benjamin Franklin at the Internet Archive
Yale edition of complete works, the standard scholarly edition
Online, searchable edition

=== Autobiography ===
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin at Project Gutenberg
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin LibriVox recording

=== In the arts ===
Benjamin Franklin 300 (1706–2006); Archived August 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Official web site of the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary.
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania Collection of Benjamin Franklin Papers, including correspondence, government documents, writings and a copy of his will, are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.