17 January 2006

Happy 300th Birthday, Benjamin Franklin!

My fellow historians, professional and armchair alike, should note that today is the 300th anniversary of the birth of the quintessential American, Benjamin Franklin. Joyce Chaplin, one of my comittee members, writes about Franklin and she suggests the following list of activities in celebration of the day:

1. eat an apple,
2. launch a hoax,
3. make a friend of an enemy,
4. write a letter,
5. buy, borrow, or lend a book,
6. make a charitable donation,
7. invent a labor-saving device,
8. commit a sexual indiscretion,
9. organize a club,
10. buy insurance,
11. rig up an experiment with ordinary household items,
12. play a musical instrument,
13. go for a swim.

You might also listen to some fine music played on the glass armonica, an instrument Franklin invented.
(crossposted at Cliopatria)

2 Comments:

At Tuesday, January 17, 2006 7:23:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

A nice addition to this list would be fly a kite and get electrocuted :)

 
At Tuesday, January 17, 2006 11:40:00 PM, Blogger Rebecca said...

I think that comes under rigging an experiment with ordinary household items...:)

 

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