2.  Ben Franklin was born on January 17,1706 in Boston, Massachusetts.  He was born in a small house on Milk Street next to the old south church.  He was the 15 th child (of seventeen) of a soap and candle maker.  He learned to read very quickly and his formal education ended at age 10.

3.  He died on April 17, 1790 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania  He died of pleurisy(inflammation in the lungs).  After his death, Philadelphia gave him the largest funeral the city had ever seen.  He was 84 when he died.

4.  His home state was Massachusetts.  He ran away to Philadelphia in 1723 when he was 17 to further his education in the printing trade  After that, he left for London for the Pennsylvania governor, William Keith.

5.  Benjamin was the 15 th child of 17 and he was the last son  He was married to Deborah Read.  He had 3 kids, William Franklin, Sarah Franklin Bache, and Francis Folger Franklin

6.  Silence Dogood was a pen name he used to get his big brother to publish his work in The New England Courant.  He ran away from his brother in 1723  He invented a lightening rod, a glass harmonica, Franklin stove and bifocals.

7.  He signed all of the major documents that freed the colonies from the British rule and established the untied states as independent.  He was one of the three Americans to sign the peace treaty that ended the revolutionary war.  He helped write the declaration of independence.

8.  "US History." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association. Web. 7 Oct. 2015  Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 7 Oct. 2015.  Constitution Day - September 17, 2015 | U.S. Constitution." Constitution Day - September 17, 2015 | U.S. Constitution. Web. 7 Oct. 2015.  Mixbook | Main." Mixbook. Web. 7 Oct. 2015  "History.com." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 7 Oct. 2015.