Benjamin Franklin and the Lightning Rod Benjamin Franklin, who lived from 1706 to 1790, was a master of many skills. No other American of his time did so many things so well. During his long and useful life, Franklin concerned himself with such diverse matters as statesmanship, making soap, printing books and the movements of tides. One of his most famous achievements was his discovery that lighting is electrical in nature. This led to his invention of the lightning rod.
Franklin was one of the first scientists to experiment with electricity. He conducted his most famous experiment in 1752 while trying to understand how lightning worked, and how it could be controlled to make it less dangerous. To prove that lightening is electricity, he flew a homemade kite during a thunderstorm. A bolt of lightning struck the kite wire and traveled down the wire to a key tied to the end, where it caused a spark. After this experiment, Franklin was able to tame lightning by inventing the lightning rod. The lightning rod diverts lightning away from a building, sending the electricity harmlessly into the ground. He urged his fellow citizens to safeguard their homes using this device. When lightning hit Franklin's own home, the lightning rod saved the building from damage. Despite its usefulness, people did not immediately accept his invention. They feared the rods would attract lightning strikes that would not otherwise happen, and that draining electricity into the ground would cause earthquakes. Gradually, of course, lightning rods became widely accepted, although it took 40 years. |
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