Benjamin Franklin
| Region | Occupation | Born | Died |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America, Mid-Atlantic | Politician | 1706 | 1790 |
Born in the bustling seaport town of Boston in 1706, Franklin attended school there before being apprenticed to his older brother, a printer. He considered running away to sea whenever his brother's demands became particularly irksome. Instead, left Boston in 1723 to seek his fortune in Philadelphia. Hired as a printer, he was dispatched by sea to England in 1726 to secure equipment. His interest in the sea were already clear from the exact journal of his voyage back to Philadelphia from England. He was to make eight transAtlantic sea passages duringhis adult life 1724e/1726w/1757e/1762w/1764e/1775w/1776e/1785w).
Franklin's next three decades given over to advancing his business interests, cultivating his far-ranging interest in science, and civic betterment. In 1768, as postmaster for North Ameriuca, he collaborated with his Nantucket relative John Folger to produce a chart of the Gulf Stream, designed to alert ships sailing from England to North America to avoid the Gulf Stream's easterly flowing current. His thoughts on the Gulf Stream and other researches relating to marine science he published in 1786 under the title "Sundry Maritime Considerations." He has fairly benn called America's first oceanographer.
Sources
Robert A. McCaughey Benjamin Franklin, Georges-Louis Le Rouge and the Franklin/Folger Chart of the Gulf Stream Sundry Maritime Observations The First Scientific American, Benjamin Franklin and the Pursuit of Genius (2006)Images
Public Domain Source
Related Locations
PhiladelphiaRelated marinelife
Gulf StreamExternal Additional Sources
http://www.anb.org/articles/01/01-00298.html?a=1&n=Franklin%2C%20Benjamin&ia=-at&ib=-bib&d=10&ss=0&q=5Compiler
Peter Richards