Benjamin Franklin American Patriot
Once Franklin began to establish himself as a printer in Philidelphia, things began to happen fast. The public and city officials responded positively to his articles and the information he was putting out. Ben Franklin was an every man's man. He was a hard worker and entrepreneur who pulled himself up by the boot straps every morning and got down to work. He married a woman named Deborah Read, who was very like minded and together they ran three businesses; a print shop, book store and notions shop. In 1729 Benjamin Franklin bought a newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette. He would now have more freedom to write as many articles as he wanted on various topics not only under his name, but under assumed names. He printed the first political cartoon authored by himself. In 1733 he published Poor Richard's Almanac. It was his take on the typical almanac, that included plant growing information, cooking, moon phases, and weather predictions. Franklin added humor and wit creating a character with a story line to draw readers in.
Benjamin Franklin was very civic minded. He joined the Masons and formed a group of young men interested in bettering themselves and their community. Wherever he would see a problem he would work to solve it. As a result of this characteristic, many great firsts were established in the city of Pennsylvania. Franklin helped to create a public lending library, a hospital, a fire response team and the first fire insurance program. By 1743 Franklin had begun to turn his interests more toward inventing. It was in response to the numerous fires that he created the Franklin Stove. It helped insulate and retain heat, while preventing sparks and common fire accidents to happen in the home.