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17 Jan 1706
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Birth of Benjamin Franklin
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1725
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A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity
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1729
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Benjamin Franklin Prints Currency
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1729
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First Issue of the Pennsylvania Gazette
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1732
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First Publication of the Poor Richard's Almanac
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1736
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Benjamin Franklin becomes clerk of the Pennsylvania legislature.
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1737
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Benjamin Franklin becomes postmaster of Philadelphia.
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Nov 1746
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Franklin Studies Electricity
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1748
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Benjamin Franklin Retires
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1749
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Benjamin Franklin is justice of the peace in Philadelphia.
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1751
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Publication of Experiments and Observations on Electricity
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1753
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Benjamin Franklin becomes deputy postmaster general, a royal appointment putting him in charge of mail in the northern colonies.
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1754
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Franklin's Plan of Union
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1757
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Benjamin Franklin in London
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1757
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Franklin Writes The Way to Wealth
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1762
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Benjamin Franklin receives an honorary degree from the University of Oxford.
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1765
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Benjamin Franklin Mediates
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1766
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Although still a royalist who disapproved of colonial mobs, Benjamin Franklin speaks against the Stamp Act for four hours before Parliament.
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1771
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Benjamin Franklin begins writing his best-selling Autobiography.
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1772
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Benjamin Franklin sends letters written by Thomas Hutchinson, lieutenant governor of Massachusetts, back to Boston. The letters mention the necessity of abridging some American liberties, and cause a firestorm in America and London.
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29 Jan 1774
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In an amphitheater near Whitehall Palace in London, Benjamin Franklin sits silently as he is viciously attacked by the British solicitor-general before the Privy Council for his involvement in the "Hutchinson affair." Two days later he is relieved of his
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1775
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Upon his return from London, Benjamin Franklin is elected to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, but his long stay in London leads some to suspect he is a British spy.
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Mar 1775
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Benjamin Franklin Returns from London
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1776
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Benjamin Franklin in France
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4 Jul 1776
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Declaration of Independence
