November 30th, 1753: Benjamin Franklin receives the Godfrey Copley medal “on account of his curious Experiments and Observations on Electricity.”

US Founding Father Benjamin Franklin worked his way up from working class origins to prominence as a writer and publisher of newspapers before becoming a voice for American interests in Europe and Ambassador to France.

He one of the Committee of Five that drafted the US Declaration of Independence and became the US’s first Postmaster General in 1776. An abolitionist toward the end of this life, he freed his two slaves.

As a scientist and inventor Franklin conducted famous electricity experiments, invented the lightning rod, bifocals and the Franklin stove.

Born: January 17, 1706
Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Died: April 17, 1790 (aged 84)