Exhibition. The Filthy Little Atheist … Founding Father. [Site editor's note: The following is an excerpt from the new Disinformation title 50 Things You're Not Supposed To Know: Religion, authored by Daniele Bolelli.]
The story of his life is richer and weirder than any fiction. Among his close friends were visionary poets such as William Blake as well as political icons like Benjamin Franklin. History of the U.S.: A Ridiculously Long and Incomplete List of Things Ben Franklin Invented. We all remember Ben Franklin as a pretty bright guy who discovered some pretty important stuff.
The real question is, what didn’t this polymath genius invent? 1742: Observing the wasteful use of firewood in inefficient colonial fireplaces, he designed the Franklin Stove, which used its iron body to diffuse a much larger proportion of the heat.