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**Innovator**: Benjamin Franklin **Born**: January 17, 1706 **Where**: Boston, Massachusetts **Education**: He was the son of an impoverished printer and only had two years of formal education. In 1724 Franklin studied where he learned to be a skilled printer. **Where**: London, England **When**: 1724-1726 **Interesting Facts**:  Photo:
 * Benjamin Franklin-Franklin stove **
 *  1.     He is the 15th child in a family of 17 children.
 *  2.     He was working in his father’s shop at the age of ten and was later apprenticed by his older brother as a printer.
 *  3.     He was always an avid reader as a child.
 *  4.     He made a name for himself with his publishing, the __Pennsylvania Gazette__ (1729) and __Poor Richard’s Almanak__ (1732).
 *  5.     What interested him in science was the Leydon Jar which stored static electricity. When touching the charged metal rod on the jar, you get a harmless jolt of electricity. Franklin was influenced to find how the jar worked and made countless experiments on the subject. This lead a connection to the Leydon Jar and lightning and thunder.
 *  6.     He invented the light bulb, Franklin stove, lightening rod, and many other inventions
 *  7.     He is a renowned scientist that revolutionized history

Benjamin Franklin invented the Franklin stove in 1742. The Franklin stove is designed to heat the home in a safer way. Most colonial homes were heated by a fireplace which used a lot of wood and was not very safe. It was an ineffective way to heat a home. It is a metal-lined fireplace with baffles in the rear that improves airflow. It is also known as the circulating stove. It is made of cast iron, so it cracks in the fire. Unfortunately, this causes smoke to go through the cracks and into the room. This changed colonial America because the original way is a fireplace which is more dangerous because it uses a lot of wood and is unsafe. It was needed because that was an ineffective way to heat a room. Franklin noticed the safety hazard and made the design he called the Pennsylvania stove, or the Franklin stove. It spread all over America, and was in great demand by his friend who he gave the design to, Mr. Robert Grace. It was improved by David Rittenhouse in 1772 by adding an L-shaped chimney because of one major flaw; he designed it so that the smoke would come out of the bottom. Since smoke rises, it made it almost impossible to work properly. Franklin was offered a patent by Governor Thomas, however he declined because he believed that people appreciating his invention was than any financial award. The original design has changes over the past 300 years and it eventually ended up as it is today.
 * Innovation-Franklin stove **

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