Benjamin Franklin wrote the first known American book on the subject of personal finance titled The Way To Wealth.
Benjamin Franklin wrote the first known American book on the subject of personal finance titled The Way To Wealth.
Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
-- Ben Franklin
Benjamin Franklin was an accomplished and quite interesting character in American history. He was an inventor and statesman, and was the only person to have signed all four American founding documents (the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Alliance with France, the peace agreement with Britain (Treaty of Paris 1783), and the Constitution).
Having quit school at age 10, he was a self-made person and achieved wealth and fame through discipline, determination and hard work. He invented bifocals and the Franklin stove, and demonstrated that lightning was electrical energy. He formed both the first public lending library and fire department in America. His inventions included a musical instrument called the Glass Armonica for which both Beethoven and Mozart composed music. He also helped negotiate the Treaty of Alliance with France and worked to secure loans from France that helped finance the American revolution against the British (be sure to check out the Library of Congress link for related information on Franklin here).
The original U.S. penny was designed by none other than Benjamin Franklin. It was the first currency of any kind authorized by the United States, and was named after its British counterpart, the "pence". First minted in 1787 by a private mint, it was known as the Fugio cent, and was 100% copper. In fact, Paul Revere himself supplied some of the copper for these first coins in the 1790's. You can see what they looked like here.
The next time you visit Paris, France be sure to stroll through the Latin quarter where the Procope restaurant is located (or try here if you are fluent in French). The Procope is where Benjamin Franklin stayed, and where many other famous figures assembled in their time (such as Voltaire, Rousseau, and even Napoleon Bonaparte). The Procope is located on a very narrow cobblestone street and the buildings in the area actually lean out into the street a bit due to their age (as you stroll down this street you can just hear the echo of horse's hooves trotting along so long ago). The Procope was founded in 1686 and is still serving food today.
If you're interested in reading more about Benjamin Franklin's life, numerous biographies have been written. I highly recommend you pick up a copy of the New York Times bestseller Benjamin Franklin: An American Life. In this very thorough biography, renowned Franklin historian Walter Isaacson provides a 500+ page narrative of Franklin's 84-year life, considering him "the most accomplished American of his age,". You may be surprised to learn that Franklin drew America's first known political cartoon, that he became famous for wearing a fur cap socially in Paris, and that he not only attended, but actually participated in a memorial service for Voltaire after he died. Be sure to view the hand edits Franklin made to Thomas Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence (I won't give away here what words Franklin changed!).
Get your copy of the 600 page best-selling Benjamin Franklin biography Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
New York Times bestseller Benjamin Franklin: An American Life