Happy 300th Birthday Benjamin Franklin

Posted by CmdrTaco on Tuesday January 17, 2006 @02:57AM from the today-in-history dept.

Guinnessy writes "Benjamin Franklin was born on 17 January 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts. Franklin was a man of diverse talents: publisher, inventor, ambassador, politician, wit with some human frailities says NPR. In Physics Today, Philip Krider presents Franklin's work on electricity and the development of the lightning rod, work whose fame helped Franklin obtain aid from the French against the British. In the same magazine, Joost Mertens considers Franklin's explorations of the calming effects of oil on water. Those investigations, it turns out, had a less than calming effect on Dutch scholars. Philadelphia is planning a series of events celebratng Franklin's life throughtout the year."

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Re:get your wallets out... by chibbie · 2006-01-17 03:11 · Score: 0, Offtopic

I only have a fiver... you insensitive clod!
Am I the only person who hates it when people... by niczon · 2006-01-17 03:20 · Score: 0, Offtopic

wish "happy birthday" to dead people?
The French by matt21811 · 2006-01-17 03:47 · Score: 0, Offtopic

What? A mention of the French on the front page of Slashdot and there isn't 10 posts all making the same "cheese eating surrender monkeys" joke. Half of which have been moderated up to +5 funny.
Maybe those people are too busy out eating their Freedom Fries.
Re:Am I the only person who hates it when people.. by saltydogdesign · 2006-01-17 03:55 · Score: 0, Offtopic

Yes. Yes you are.

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