Ben Franklin Inventions

When most of us think about Benjamin Franklin and his inventions, we think about a man running around outside during a thunderstorm with a kite. Ask any child and they will be quick to tell you that Benjamin Franklin invented electricity but the fact of the matter is, electricity had always been in existence. As a result of that famous incident of him flying a kite, however, he did invent the lightning rod. This is one of Ben Franklins inventions that really has had an impact on us today. During that time, in the 1700s, fires were commonplace as a result of lightning strikes. His simple lightning rod helped to channel that power away from the houses and buildings, and to a grounded source. Many of us do something similar today.

If this is the only one of Ben Franklin inventions that you are aware of, you are really missing some of the more interesting inventions of his time. Were you aware, for example, that Ben Franklin invented the bifocals? As a result of his age and the fact that he was having a difficult time seeing, he came up with the concept for the bifocals and many of us are thankful that he did. Although it is not necessarily one of the Benjamin Franklin inventions that we take into consideration, there certainly are a lot of us that make daily use of it.

Benjamin Franklin did not always work as an inventor. As a matter of fact, he once served as the postmaster general. In an effort to figure out the best route for delivering mail, he invented a simple odometer which allowed measurements between two areas when it was attached to the delivery carriage. Although it was a lot simpler than the odometers that we use in automobiles today, it is one of the Ben Franklin inventions that many of us use daily without ever taking the inventor into consideration.

Those of us who live along the coast are familiar with what the Gulfstream is but very few of us realize the fact that Benjamin Franklin is one of the men that helped the map it out. It was known that sailing from the United States to Europe took less time than traveling in the other direction. This fact fascinated Benjamin Franklin so he took the time to map out the Gulfstream by measuring current depths and wind speed in order to come up with one of the first, accurate concept drawings of the phenomenon. Although it is not necessarily one of Ben Franklins inventions, it is something that is still being used today.

Something that was used during that time is the Franklin stove. This was a concept that was thought up by Benjamin Franklin in order to help individuals to use less wood, while still producing more heat. Since wood fires accounted for a lot of the heat during that time, having a more efficient way of receiving that heat was welcomed by almost everyone. Something that is interesting about this particular one of Ben Franklin inventions is the fact that he turned down a patent for this concept. He wanted it to be available for everybody and was not interested in making a profit from it.