This holiday is a commemoration of the birth of Benjamin Franklin˙printer, scientist,
inventor, statesman, diplomat, writer, editor, wit, and aphorist.
Born in Boston on this day in 1706, Franklin helped edit, and was a signer of, the
Declaration of Independence. He also helped to frame the Constitution.
The commonsense moralities of his Poor Richard's Almanac became catch-phrases in his
time and are still quoted today˙for example, "Make haste slowly"; "Fish and visitors
smell in three days"; "He that goes a-borrowing, goes a-sorrowing."
Franklin invented bifocals, proposed Daylight Saving Time in 1786, and unsuccessfully
recommended the wild turkey rather than the bald eagle as the national bird. When he
died in 1790 in Philadelphia, he was given the most impressive funeral that city had ever
seen: 20,000 people attended.
Since 1991, the Bower Award and Prize in Science-a cash prize of more than $300,000-
has been presented on Jan. 17 by the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia to a person who
has made a scientific contribution of a practical nature in the manner of Franklin.
Also in Philadelphia, the Franklin Institute Science Museum holds a two-day "birthday
bash" that often involves people dressing as Franklin.
The celebration takes place on the weekend preceding Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which
is the Monday after Jan. 15.
Full story:
https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Franklin%27s+Birthday
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