January 17, 1706 - Boston, Massachusetts - Benjamin Franklin is born
March 27, 1712 - Boston - Jane Franklin is born
September 1(?), 1714 - Boston - Josiah Franklin sends his son to Boston Latin School, to prepare him for Harvard
September 1(?), 1715 - Boston - Benjamin attends George Brownell's English School
June(?) 1(?), 1716 - Boston - Benjamin starts working full time in his father's candle and soap shop
January(?) 1(?), 1717 - Boston - Benjamin invents wooden paddles to use in swimming. For a while, he apprentices as a cutler with his cousin Samuel, but returns to his father's shop when Josiah is charged a fee for the apprenticeship
February(?) 1(?), 1718 - Boston - Benjamin becomes an apprentice to his brother James, a printer, at 12
February(?) 1(?), 1721 - Boston - James Franklin founds "the New-England Courant", the first truly independent newspaper in the colonies. Benjamin was 21
August 7, 1721 - Boston - First issue of the "New-England Courant"
April 2, 1722 - Boston - After being denied several times when he tried to publish letters under his own name in the "Courant", Franklin creates the persona of a middle-aged widow named "Silence Dogood". First of 14 Silence Dogood letters is published on the "New-England Courant" =(START)
October 8, 1722 - Boston - Last of 14 Silence Dogood letters is published on the "New-England Courant"
February 11, 1723 - Boston - Atop of the "Courant" appears the masthead "Printed and Sold by Benjamin Franklin"
September 25, 1723 - Boston - 17-year old Franklin escapes from his brother aboard a sloop to New York
September 30, 1723 - (while sailing to New York) - New-England Courant ad: "James Franklin, printer in Queen Street, wants a likely lad for an apprentice"
October 3(?), 1723 - New York - Franklin meets the sole printer in New York, William Bradford, who suggests him to continue to Philadelphia, where his son Andrew ran the family print shop and a weekly newspaper there
October 10, 1723 - Philadelphia - Franklin arrives in Philadelphia
October 11, 1723 - Philadelphia - Andrew Bradford takes Franklin to see Philadelphia's other printer, Samuel Keimer, who tests his capabilities and promises to give him work when possible
April 30(?), 1724 - Philadelphia - Franklin boards a ship heading to Boston
May 1(?), 1724 - Boston - Franklin asks his father for a loan to start a printing business in Philadelphia, which he refuses
November 5, 1724 - Philadelphia - Franklin departs to London aboard the ship "London Hope" in company of aspiring poet James Ralph. He meets the merchant Thomas Denham aboard
December 24, 1724 - London, England - Franklin arrives in London on Christmas Eve. He finds a job at the famous printing house of Samuel Palmer
March(?) 1(?), 1725 - London - Franklin writes "A dissertation on Liberty and necessity, pleasure and pain"
December 24, 1725 - London - Franklin switches to a better paying job at a larger printing house, owned by John Watts
June(?) 1(?), 1726 - London - Thomas Denham offers to pay Franklin's passage if he would agree to sign on as his clerk at £50 a year. The idea of becoming a merchant interests Franklin
July 21, 1726 - Gravesend - Franklin and Thomas Denham depart to Philadelphia aboard the ship "Berkshire". The ship anchors for the night at Gravesend, Franklin goes ashore
July 23, 1726 - Margate - The "Berkshire" anchors at Margate, almost with no wind
July 27, 1726 - Spithead, Off Portsmouth - Franklin examines the harbor and fortifications at Portsmouth during a stop due to western winds
July 28, 1726 - Isle of Wight - Another delay allows a tour of the Isle of Wight
July 30, 1726 - Yarmouth - The "Berkshire" anchors at Yarmouth
August 8, 1726 - The Lizard - Twenty days after leaving London, the "Berkshire" reaches the Lizard—the promontory that marks England’s southmost point—and enter the open ocean in contrary winds
October 9, 1726 - Cape Henlopen, Delaware - The passengers of the "Berkshire" sight Cape Henlopen
October 11, 1726 - Redbank, 6 miles from Philadelphia - Franklin and Thomas Denham return to Philadelphia
February 1(?), 1727 - Philadelphia - Franklin suffers his first pleusiry attack and nearly dies (cause of his death in 1790)
February 10(?), 1727 - Philadelphia - Thomas Denham dies. Franklin goes back to Keimer's printing shop as manager
October(?) 1(?), 1727 - Philadelphia - Franklin, aged 21, creates the "Junto", a group of "like minded aspiring artisans and tradesmen who hoped to improve themselves while they improved their community"
June 1, 1728 - Philadelphia - Franklin sets up a printing house in partnership with Hugh Meredith
November 28, 1728 - Philadelphia - Franklin publishes "Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion"
January 24, 1729 - Philadelphia - "Martha Careful" letter complaining about Samuel Keimer
January 28, 1729 - Philadelphia - "CÆlia Shortface" letter complaining about Samuel Keimer
February 28, 1729 - Philadelphia - "Busy-body" letter
April 3, 1729 - Philadelphia - Franklin publishes "A modest enquiry into the Nature and necessity of a Paper Currency"
October 2, 1729 - Philadelphia - Franklin becomes the publisher of a news paper called "The Pennsylvania Gazette"
January 30, 1730 - Philadelphia - The Pennsylvania Assembly elects Franklin and Hugh Meredith as the official government printers
July 14, 1730 - Philadelphia - Franklin purchases Meredith's side of the printing business and becomes sole proprietor
September 1, 1730 - Philadelphia - Franklin establishes a common-law marriage with Deborah Read
January(?) 1(?), 1731 - Philadelphia - By the time Deborah Read starts living with Franklin, he takes custody of an illegitimate son, William
February 1, 1731 - Philadelphia - Franklin is initiated into the local Masonic lodge
June 10, 1731 - Philadelphia - Publication of "Apology for Printers", in defence of press freedom
July 1, 1731 - Philadelphia - Franklin composes the charter of the "Library Company of Philadelphia"
September 3, 1731 - Philadelphia - Franklin sponsors his journeyman Thomas Whitmarsh as his printing partner in South Carolina, advancing the printing press and types in return for one-third of the profits over a six-year term
June 24, 1732 - Philadelphia - Franklin publishes the first German-language newspaper in America - "Die Philadelphische Zeitung"
July 24, 1732 - Philadelphia - "Celia Single" letter
September 12, 1732 - Philadelphia - "Alice Addertongue" letter
October 20, 1732 - Philadelphia - Francis Folger Franklin is born
December 28, 1732 - Philadelphia - Franklin publishes the first "Poor Richard's Almanack", under the name "Richard Saunders"
November 26, 1733 - Philadelphia - Franklin hires the first american Librarian, Louis Timothee
June 24, 1734 - Philadelphia - Franklin becomes a masonic Grand Master
February 4, 1735 - Philadelphia - Franklin sends 500 copies of "Poor Richard's Almanack" to his brother's widow for free, so that she could make money selling them
October 15, 1736 - Philadelphia - After Andrew Hamilton wins the reelection for the Assembly, he chooses Franklin as the clerk
November 21, 1736 - Philadelphia - Francis Folger Franklin dies, aged 4
December 7, 1736 - Philadelphia - Franklin assists in the formation of a volunteer fire department, sometimes called "Benjamin Franklin's Bucket Brigade"
January(?) 1(?), 1737 - Philadelphia - Franklin is appointed postmaster of Philadelphia
February 15, 1739 - Philadelphia - Franklin's house is robbed by William Lloyd
May 15, 1739 - Philadelphia - Franklin begins a campaign to clean up the tan-yards on the Philadelphia docks
November 6, 1740 - Philadelphia - Bradford announces plans for the "American Magazine", after a Franklin's idea leaked by a friend
December 1(?), 1740 - Philadelphia - Franklin begins designing the Pennsylvania fireplace
February 5, 1741 - Philadelphia - Franklin advertises an early version of the Pennsylvania fireplace for sale
February 13, 1741 - Philadelphia - Bradford and Webbe's "American Magazine" comes off the press
February 16, 1741 - Philadelphia - Benjamin Franklin's "General Magazine" comes off the press
January(?) 1(?), 1743 - Philadelphia - Franklin founds the American Philosophical Society
May 14, 1743 - Philadelphia - Publication of "A proposal for promoting useful knowledge among the british plantations in America"
September 11, 1743 - Philadelphia - Sarah "Sally" Franklin is born
October 21, 1743 - Philadelphia - A storm moving from the southwest denies Franklin the opportunity of witnessing a lunar eclipse. Franklin was said to have noted that the prevailing winds were actually from the northeast, contrary to what he had expected. In correspondence with his brother, Franklin learned that the same storm had not reached Boston until after the eclipse, despite the fact that Boston is to the northeast of Philadelphia. He deduced that storms do not always travel in the direction of the prevailing wind, a concept that greatly influenced meteorology.
January 16, 1745 - (While in Philadelphia) - Josiah Franklin dies in Boston, aged 87
April 1(?), 1745 - Philadelphia - Peter Collinson sends a glass tube, together with a pamphlet describing the recent german electrical experiments to the Library Company, thus starting Franklin's electrical experiments
June 25, 1745 - Philadelphia - Franklin publishes "Advice to a friend on Choosing a Mistress"
July(?) 1(?), 1746 - Boston - Franklin starts exploring the phenomenon of electricity in 1746 when he attends some of Archibald Spencer's lectures using static electricity for illustrations
September 1(?), 1746 - Philadelphia(?) - William leaves home with an ensign's commission on a military expedition to Canada
March 28, 1747 - Philadelphia - Letter to Peter Collinson, a businessman from London, thanking him, and saying the tube and instructions had motivated him and several colleagues to begin serious experiments with electricity
April 15, 1747 - Philadelphia - "The speech of Polly Baker" is published in the "Gentleman's Magazine"
November 17, 1747 - Philadelphia - Publication of the political pamphlet "Plain Truth", about the need of defence agains french and spanish privateers
November 24, 1747 - Philadelphia - Franklin helps organizing a volunteer militia - the Associators - for the defence of Pennsylvania
January 1, 1748 - Philadelphia - Franklin, already very wealthy, retires from printing. He creates a partnership with his foreman, David Hall, which provides Franklin with half of the shop's profits for 18 years. This lucrative business arrangement provided leisure time for study, and in a few years he had made discoveries that gave him a reputation with educated persons throughout Europe and especially in France
April 1(?), 1748 - Philadelphia - Franklin constructs a multiple plate capacitor, that he called an "electrical battery" by placing eleven panes of glass sandwiched between lead plates, suspended with silk cords and connected by wires
October 1(?), 1748 - Philadelphia - Franklin is selected as a councilman
April 1(?), 1749 - Philadelphia - Franklin begins sketching a theory about Lightning
June 1(?), 1749 - Philadelphia - Franklin becomes a "Justice of the Peace" for Philadelphia
October 23, 1749 - Philadelphia - Franklin publishes "Proposals relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania"
November 1(?), 1749 - Philadelphia - Diary entry about the similarities between electrical sparks and lightning
November 13, 1749 - Philadelphia - Appointed president of the "Academy"
January(?) 1(?), 1750 - Philadelphia - Publishes a proposal for an experiment to prove that lightning is electricity, by flying a kite in a storm that appeared capable of becoming a lightning Storm
February 1(?), 1750 - Philadelphia - Franklin's first attack of gout
April 12, 1750 - Philadelphia - Letter to his mother, refering to William "as now 19 years of age"
July 29, 1750 - Philadelphia - Letter to Peter Collinson, a businessman from London, describing and proposing lightning rods as a means to protect buildings from fire
December 23, 1750 - Philadelphia - Franklin is severely shocked while electrocuting a turkey
January(?) 1(?), 1751 - Philadelphia - In a pamphlet on demographic growth and its implications for the colonies, he called the Pennsylvania Germans "Palatine Boors" who could never acquire the "Complexion" of the English settlers and to "Blacks and Tawneys" as weakening the social structure of the colonies
February 1(?), 1751 - Philadelphia - Franklin and Dr. Thomas Bond obtain a charter from the Pennsylvania legislature to establish a hospital. Pennsylvania Hospital is the first hospital in what was to become the United States of America
May 9, 1751 - Philadelphia - Franklin is elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly
August 13, 1751 - Philadelphia - The "Academy" opens for the secondary schooling of boys
September 7, 1751 - Philadelphia - Franklin organizes the Philadelphia Contributionship, the first homeowner's insurance company in what would become the United States
February 6, 1752 - Philadelphia - The Pennsylvania Hospital opens in Philadelphia
May 8, 1752 - (While in Philadelphia) - In Boston, Franklin's mother dies, aged 84
May 10, 1752 - (While in Philadelphia) - The french replicate Franklin's experiment with success
June 15, 1752 - Philadelphia - Franklin conducts a kite experiment, successfully extracting sparks from a cloud
August 27, 1752 - Philadelphia - The "Pennsylvania Gazette" reprints a letter about the french lightning experiments
September 1(?), 1752 - Philadelphia - Franklin equips his house with a lightning rod, connecting it to bells that ring when the rod is electrified
October 19, 1752 - Philadelphia - Franklin describes his kite experiment in the "Pennsylvania Gazette". Publishes "Elementa Philosophica"
December 8, 1752 - Philadelphia - Franklin designs a flexible catheter for his brother John, who was suffering from a bladder stone
June 15(?), 1753 - Philadelphia - Franklin departs Philadelphia for New England
June 18(?), 1753 - New York - Franklin arrives in New York. Dr.William Smith accompanies him to Connecticut
June 23(?), 1753 - Stratford, Connecticut - Franklin and Dr.William Smith meet Dr.Samuel Johnson
June 26, 1753 - New Haven, Connecticut - Letter to Peter Collinson, introducing Dr.William Smith
July 27, 1753 - New Haven, Connecticut - Franklin is awarded honorary degree of Master of Arts from Harvard College on 25th. President Edward Holyoke presented it to Franklin two days later, with a tin box, emblazoned with the college arms, to keep it in.
August 10, 1753 - Philadelphia(?) - Franklin is appointed deputy postmaster-general of British North America
September 12, 1753 - Cambridge, Massachusetts(?) - Franklin is awarded honorary degree of Master of Arts from Yale College
October 1, 1753 - Carlisle (between Philadelphia and Ohio River) - Carlisle Conference - Franklin is chosen as one of 3 commissioners from Philadelphia to attend the Conference with a congregation of the Delaware indians
November 30. 1753 - (While in Philadelphia?) - Franklin receives the Royal Society's Copley Medal
May 9, 1754 - Philadelphia - News of Washington's defeat reach Philadelphia - Franklin writes an editorial the "Gazette" blaming the disunited state of the british colonies and prints the first political cartoon "Join or Die"
June 9, 1754 - New York - Benjamin Franklin departs on a sloop to Albany
June 15(?), 1754 - Albany, New York - Heads the Pennsylvania delegation to the Albany Congress
July 10, 1754 - Albany - The Commissioners finally vote on a plan to establish a national congress composed of representatives selected by each state roughly in proportion to their population and wealth, and the executive would be a "President General" appointed by the king
August 17, 1754 - Albany - The Pennsylvania Assembly rejects the Albany Plan, as do the other colonies and the British government
December(?) 1(?), 1754 - Boston, Massachusetts - 49-year old Franklin meets 23-year old Catherine Ray
December 29(?), 1754 - Newport - Travels with Catherine Ray by carriage to visit her sister in Newport
March 4, 1755 - Philadelphia - Letter to Catherine Ray
April 26, 1755 - Fredericktown, Maryland - Meeting with british General Edward Braddock, to discuss the handling of military dispatches
November 25, 1755 - (While in postal inspection trip) - Franklin’s militia bill for Pennsylvania is adopted by the Assembly
December 9, 1755 - Halifax, Canada - Franklin opens the first post office to offer regular, monthly mail in what would later become Canada
January 17, 1756 - Lehigh Gap - 50th birthday, camping at the Lehigh Gap - overseeing the construction of a line of stockades
January 29, 1756 - (While in postal inspection trip) - Franklin is elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society.
March 9, 1756 - (While in postal inspection trip) - Pennsylvania Assembly passed Franklin’s bill for providing night watchmen and street lighting for Philadelphia
March 21, 1756 - Williamsburg, Virginia - Meets George Washington during his postal inspection trip.
April 2, 1756 - Williamsburg - Receives an honorary master of arts degree from the College of William and Mary
February 3, 1757 - Philadelphia - Pennsylvania Assembly elects Franklin its agent in presenting its grievances to the Penn family proprietors and the British government
February 20, 1757 - New York - Franklin arrives in New York. Letter to John Campbell Loudoun
June 2, 1757 - New York - Letters to Ezra Stiles and Elizabeth Graeme
June 23, 1757 - Philadelphia - Franklin is sent to England by the Pennsylvania Assembly as a colonial agent to protest against the political influence of the Penn family, the proprietors of the colony. Franklin departs to London with his son William, writing "Father Abraham's Sermon" at sea
July 16(?), 1757 - Scilly Islands, England - His ship narrowly avoids being wrecked on the Scilly Islands when it sought to evade french privateers in the fog
July 18, 1757 - Falmouth, England - Letter to Deborah Read
July 26, 1757 - London - Franklin and William arrive in London
August 20, 1757 - London - Franklin begins a series of meetings with the primary Proprietor of Pennsylvania, Thomas Penn, and his brother Richard
January(?) 1(?), 1758 - London - Franklin advocates the opening of a school for the education of black slaves in Philadelphia. Back in Philadelphia, "Poor Richard's Almanack" is published for the last time
January 13, 1758 - London - Negotiations break after the rancorous meeting with Thomas Penn
June 10, 1758 - Cambridge - Visit to Cambridge University - Franklin conducts a series of experiments on evaporation with the renowned chemist John Hadley
July 1(?), 1758 - Ecton, 60 miles NW of London - Genealogical excursion to Ecton, where generations of Franklins had lived
August 20, 1758 - Turnbridge Wells - Letter to Mary Stevenson
October(?) 1(?), 1758 - London - Returns to London. Submits a brief on the Delawares' behalf to the Privy Council
December 2, 1758 - London - Franklin invents a damper for stoves or chimneys
December 12, 1758 - (While in London) - Franklin is awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of St.Andrews
June 1(?), 1759 - London - The Privy Council rules against Franklin - The Pennsylvania Assembly cannot be compared to the House of Commons
August 8, 1759 - London - Franklin and William leave London and head north
August 10, 1759 - Manchester - Franklin arrives in Manchester. Stays for a few days and continues to Liverpool
August 29, 1759 - Liverpool - Letter to Deborah Read before departing Liverpool
September 1, 1759 - Edinburgh, Scotland - Franklin and William arrive in Edinburgh and find lodge with Mrs Cowan in Milne Square
September 5, 1759 - Edinburgh - Franklin and William are admitted Guild Brethren of the City of Edinburgh at a ceremony presided over by the Great Lord Provost Drummond
September 8, 1759 - Edinburgh - William Strahan visits Franklin
September 11, 1759 - Edinburgh - Meeting with William Strahan, the Duke of Argyll, Lord Lyttelton and other magistrates
September 13, 1759 - Edinburgh - Dinner with Alexander Kincaid
September 17, 1759 - Glasgow - The franklins depart for Glasgow, passing en route the site of the new Carron Ironworks
September 19, 1759 - Glasgow - Admitted burgess and guild brother of the City of Glasgow
September 20(?), 1759 - Highlands | Inverary - A week or two visiting the Highlands and Inverary
October 2, 1759 - St.Andrews, Scotland - Franklin is admitted a Guild Brother and received by the University in their Library
October 4, 1759 - Edinburgh - Returns to Edinburgh
October 6, 1759 - Prestonfield, Scotland - Visit to Sir Alexander and Lady Dick
October 12, 1759 - Prestonfield - Franklin departs Prestonfield
October 15(?), 1759 - Berwickshire, Scotland - Franklin meets Lord Kames. Then travels through Yorkshire and Lincolnshire
November 2, 1759 - London - Franklin returns to London
February 1(?), 1760 - (while in London) - William has an illegitimate son, William Temple Franklin, known as "Temple"
March 6, 1760 - (While in London) - Franklin elected chairman of the Associates of Dr. Bray, a philanthropic group that sponsored charity schools for blacks in Philadelphia, New York, Rhode Island, and Williamsburg, Virginia
April 17, 1760 - London - Publication of "The interest of Great Britain considered with regard to Her Colonies"
August 10, 1761 - London - Letter to Mary Stevenson
August 15, 1761 - Harwich - Franklin departs for a short trip to Flanders and the Netherlands
August 17(?), 1761 - Antwerp - Visit to Flanders - Antwerp, Ghent, Bruge. Visit to Mr.Crellius in Amsterdam
September 5, 1761 - Leyden, Netherlands - Visit to Pieter van Musschenbroek, just before his death
September 14, 1761 - Utrecht, Netherlands - Letter to Deborah Read from Holland
September 22, 1761 - Westminster Abbey, London - Franklin returns to London to attend King George III's coronation
April 30, 1762 - Oxford - Awarded an honorary doctorate by Oxford University
July 13, 1762 - London - Letter to Giambatista Beccaria, a scientist, describing his most recent invention: The glass armonica
August 16, 1762 - Portsmouth - Letter to John Morgan, while waiting for wind to sail to America
August 24, 1762 - Portsmouth - Benjamin Franklin finally sails from England aboard the "Carolina", escorted by the "HMS Scarborough"
September 4, 1762 - (while sailing to America) - William Franklin marries Elizabeth Downes in London
September 9, 1762 - (while sailing to America) - King George III commissions William Franklin the Royal Governor of New Jersey
October(?) 1(?), 1762 - Madeira Island, Portugal - 3-day stop at Madeira Island. The "Carolina" replenishes its stores, just in time of their vintage.
November 1, 1762 - Philadelphia - Benjamin Franklin returns to Philadelphia
December 7, 1762 - Philadelphia - Letter to William Strahan, describing his ocean crossing
February 26, 1763 - Perth Amboy, New Jersey - Letter to Cadwallader Colden
April 1(?), 1763 - Philadelphia - Franklin departs on a 7-months postal inspection tour
June 16, 1763 - New York - Letter to Deborah Read
August 1, 1763 - Boston - Letter to Catherine Ray
September 5, 1763 - Boston - Letter to Catherine Ray
September 22, 1763 - Boston - Letters to William Strahan, John Ellicott and Richard Jackson
October 11, 1763 - Boston - Letter to Francis Bernard
October 18, 1763 - Newport - Letter to Joshua Babcock
October 30, 1763 - Boston - Letter to Francis Bernard. Franklin departs Boston
October 31, 1763 - New York - Letter to Deborah Read
November 5(?), 1763 - Philadelphia - Franklin returns to Philadelphia
January 27(?), 1764 - Philadelphia - Publication of "A narrative of the late massacres in Lancaster Country"
March 1(?), 1764 - Philadelphia - "Necklace of resolves" - 26 resolutions calling for the end of Proprietary Government
May 26, 1764 - Philadelphia - Elected Speaker of the Pennsylvania House
October 1, 1764 - Philadelphia - Franklin looses his seat in the October 1764 Assembly elections
November 7, 1764 - Chester, Pennsylvania - The anti-proprietary party dispatches Franklin to England again to continue the struggle against the Penn family proprietorship. During this trip, events drastically change the nature of his mission. Franklin departs to England aboard the "King of Prussia". More than 300 supporters cheer him
December 9, 1764 - Saint Helen's Road, Isle of Wight - The "King of Prussia" arrives off the Isle of Wight. Letter to Deborah Read
December 27, 1764 - London - Franklin arrives in London. Letter to Deborah Read
February 1(?), 1765 - London - Franklin and other colonial agents meet with the Prime Minister George Grenville
February 27, 1765 - Whitehall, London - Stamp Act is approved in the House of Commons
September 16, 1765 - (While in London) - In Philadelphia, a mob gathers accusing Franklin of advocating the Stamp Act and set out to burn his house. It is later defended by his supporters
January 15, 1766 - London - "Homespun" letter
January 23, 1766 - London - "Pacificus" and "A friend of both countries" letters
February 1(?), 1766 - House of Lords, London - makes a case for paper money to the British House of Commons
February 13, 1766 - London - Presents his case directly to the Parliament - Becomes the de facto ambassador of America - His reputation in Philadelphia is restored
June 15, 1766 - London - Benjamin Franklin and John Pringle depart to Germany
June 22, 1766 - Bad Pyrmont - Niedersachsen, Germany - Franklin and Pringle arrive for a stay in the spa town of Bad Pyrmont
July 9, 1766 - Hannover - Visit to Johann Friedrich Hartman and the Royal Library. Electrical experiments with Hartman
July 19, 1766 - Göttingen - Franklin and Pringle are admitted as members of the Royal Academy of Göttingen
July 22, 1766 - Kassel - Franklin and Pringle reach Kassel. Then proceed to Frankfurt and Mainz.
August 16, 1766 - London - Franklin and Pringle return to London, via Holland
December(?) 1(?), 1766 - (While in London) - The printing partnership with David Hall expires after 18 years
April 11, 1767 - London - "Benevolus" Letter
June 22, 1767 - London - Letter to Deborah Read about the loss of income from the "Gazette"
August 28, 1767 - London - Benjamin Franklin and Sir John Pringle depart to France
August 29, 1767 - Dover | Calais - Franklin and Pringle board a ship to Calais
September 14, 1767 - Paris - Letter to Mary Stevenson about his stay in France
October 29, 1767 - London - Sally Franklin marries Richard Bache, a merchant from Philadelphia
January 5, 1768 - London - Publication of "Causes of the american discontents"
July 20, 1768 - Richmond, London - Develops a phonetic alphabet in "A Scheme for a new Alphabet and a Reformed Mode of Spelling"
August 13, 1768 - London - Franklin admits Richard Bache in his family for the first time in a letter
August 20, 1768 - London - Meeting with Lord Hillsborough, who declares he doesn't intend to appoint Franklin an official to the British Ministry overseeing colonial affairs - Turning Point
October(?) 1(?), 1768 - London - Franklin has maps printed showing the course of the Gulf Stream
January 2, 1769 - (While in London) - The American Philosophical Society elects Benjamin Franklin its President
August 12, 1769 - (While in London) - Grandson Benjamin Franklin Bache is born
January 2, 1770 - London - Parable - Dog and Lion
January 26, 1770 - London - Publication of "A conversation about Slavery"
January 16, 1771 - London - Meeting with Lord Hillsborough as agent of the Massachusetts Lower House - Hillsborough doesn't accept his credentials
May 18, 1771 - London - Franklin departs to North England. Arrival in Northampton at the end of the day
May 20, 1771 - Mathlock Bath, Derbyshire - Arrival in Matlock Bath, via Leicester
May 21, 1771 - Manchester - Franklin embarks in a luxurious horse-drawn boat owned by the Duke of Bridgewater that takes him onto an aqueduct that crossed a river before ending in a coal mine
May 23, 1771 - Leeds - Visit to Leeds
May 24, 1771 - Sheffield - Tour of the Marquis of Rockingham's estate, before reaching Sheffield at the end of the day
May 25, 1771 - Rotherham - Visit to an iron and tin factory in Rotherham
May 26, 1771 - Chatsworth | Derby - Tour of the Duke of Devonshire's mansion. Arrival in Derby
May 27, 1771 - Derby - Visit to the silk mill and to the china and pottery manufactures
May 28, 1771 - Birmingham - Arrival in Birmingham, via Lichfield. Visit to the Metal casting Shops of Birmingham
June 4, 1771 - London - Franklin returns to London to be at Court for the King's birthday
June(?) 12(?), 1771 - Twyford, outside Winchester - Franklin visits Jonathan Shipley at Twyford. Franklin begins writing his autobiography
June 24, 1771 - London - Letter to Jonathan Shipley
August 14, 1771 - London - Letter to Deborah Read
August 30(?), 1771 - London - Franklin departs to Ireland and Scotland with Richard Jackson, another pennsylvanian agent in England
September 5, 1771 - Dublin, Ireland - Franklin arrives in Dublin in company of colonial agent Richard Jackson
September 10(?), 1771 - Dublin - Franklin receives the honor of being invited to sit with the members of the Irish Parliament
October 23, 1771 - Dublin(?) - Franklin departs from Ireland
October 27, 1771 - Edinburgh, Scotland - Franklin arrives in Edinburgh and is lodged at David Hume's inn. Letter to William Strahan
November 6, 1771 - Edinburgh - Franklin and Marchand set out for Blair-Drummond, property of Lord Kames
November 11(?), 1771 - Blair Drummond, near Stirling, Scotland - Five days stay with Lord Kames near Stirling
November 16, 1771 - Glasgow | Carron, Falkirk - Visit to the University. Stop at Carron Iron Works, where James Watt was developing the steam engine
November 17, 1771 - Edinburgh - Back in Edinburgh. Letter to William Strahan
November 19, 1771 - Edinburgh - Dinner with Lord Kames, and on 20th with Adam Ferguson
November 21, 1771 - Edinburgh - Franklin departs Edinburgh
November 23, 1771 - Carlisle - Franklin reaches Carlisle
November 25, 1771 - Preston - In Preston with the Bache family. Letter to Mary Hewson
December 14, 1771 - London - Letter to Jonathan Shipley
January 13, 1772 - London - Letter to Thomas Cushing - "I am now return’d again to London from a Journey of some Months in Ireland and Scotland"
July 7, 1772 - Birmingham - Franklin arrives in Birmingham
December 2, 1772 - London - Franklin obtains private letters of Thomas Hutchinson and Andrew Oliver, governor and lieutenant governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, that proved they were encouraging the Crown to crack down on Bostonians. Franklin secretly sends the packet of letters to Thomas Cushing, speaker of the Massachusetts Assembly. Benjamin Franklin saw the opportunity to discretely pass along some secret British government documents to a small group of influential leaders in Boston. The aim was to show those prominent people that the instigation of the bad feelings against Americans didn’t stem from Parliamentary ministers. The main troublemaker had been right in their Bostonian midst. It turned out, Franklin discovered, that Gov. Hutchinson had been feeding bad advice to key British officials all along. He was the main trouble maker.
June 20, 1773 - (While in London) - The hutchinson letters are leaked to the public in the "Boston Gazette", causing a political firestorm in Massachusetts and raising significant questions in England
September 1(?), 1773 - London - Franklin publishes "Rules by which a Great Empire may be reduced to a small one", and "An Edict by the King of Prussia"
December 25, 1773 - London - Franklin writes in the London "Chronicle" that he was the person that obtained and transmitted to Boston the Hutchinson letters
January 29, 1774 - London - Franklin writes in the London "Chronicle" that he was the person that obtained and transmitted to Boston the Hutchinson letters
January 31, 1774 - London - Franklin is dismissed of his post as American Postmaster due to his sympathies for the rebel cause in the American Revolution
April 17, 1774 - London - Franklin attends the inaugural session of the Essex Street Chapel, in the beginning of the British Unitarianism
December 14, 1774 - (While in London) - Deborah read suffers a second stroke and dies, aged 66
December 24, 1774 - London - Franklin receives a letter from William informing him that Deborah Read had died
December 25, 1774 - London - Visit to Mrs.Howe(*) for a chess match. (*) Sister of Admiral Richard Howe and General William Howe
February 1, 1775 - House of Lords, London - Franklin is present when Lord Chatham presents a new colonial plan to the House of Lords
March 19, 1775 - London - Meeting with Whig orator and philosopher Edmund Burke
March 20, 1775 - London - Benjamin Franklin departs to America with his 15-year old grandson Temple, abandoning his accommodationist stance
May 5, 1775 - Philadelphia - Franklin and Temple arrive in Philadelphia
May 6, 1775 - Philadelphia - Franklin is selected as a member of the Continental Congress
May 15, 1775 - Trevose, Bucks County, N of Philadelphia - Benjamin Franklin and grandson meet William Franklin
February 15, 1776 - Philadelphia - The Continental Congress appoints three emissaries to Canada (one of them Franklin) to analyze the situation and propose solutions to the difficulties the Continental Army was experiencing there
March 3(?), 1776 - Perth Amboy, New Jersey - Passing by Perth Amboy, Franklin doesn't visit his son, now an enemy
April 29, 1776 - Montreal, Quebec - Franklin arrives in Montreal
May 11, 1776 - Montreal - Franklin departs Montreal to return to Philadelphia
May 12, 1776 - St.John's - Letter to Philip Schuyler
May 27, 1776 - New York - Letters to Charles Carroll and Samuel Chase
June 3, 1776 - Philadelphia - Franklin starts suffering from gout. Return to Philadelphia. Visit by George Washington
June 11, 1776 - Philadelphia - Franklin is appointed a member of the Committee of Five that drafts the Declaration of Independence
June 21, 1776 - Philadelphia - Franklin receives a draft of the Declaration of Independence from Thomas Jefferson. He makes only minor changes. Letter to George Washington
July 2, 1776 - Philadelphia - The Continental Congress votes for Independence
July 4, 1776 - Philadelphia - Declaration of Independence. Congress appointed a three-member committee composed of Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams to design the Great Seal of the United States. Franklin's proposal (which was not adopted) featured the motto: "Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God" and a scene from the Book of Exodus, with Moses, the Israelites, the pillar of fire, and George III depicted as pharaoh =(changeflag)
July 30, 1776 - Philadelphia - Franklin obtains permission from the Congress to reply to a letter of Admiral Howe
September 9, 1776 - New Brunswick - On the way to Staten Island, Franklin and Adams share a bed at an inn
September 11, 1776 - Staten Island - Franklin, Adams and Edward Rutledge meet Admiral Howe
September 26, 1776 - Philadelphia - The Continental Congress appoints Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and Silas Deane to serve as Commissioners to France; Jefferson declines
October 27, 1776 - Philadelphia - Franklin sails to France with his grandsons Temple and Benny, aboard the warship "Reprisal"
November 29, 1776 - Auray, Brittany - Sighting the coast of Brittany, the exhausted Franklin has a fishing boat ferry him to the village of Auray
December(?) 1(?), 1776 - Nantes, France - His carriage reaches Nantes. Franklin is welcomed as a celebrity. His soft fur hat becomes the fashion of the day
December 21, 1776 - Paris - Franklin reaches Paris. His fame was so great that people lined the streets hoping to get a glimpse of his entry in the City
December 28, 1776 - Paris - Franklin meets France's foreign Minister, the Comte de Vergennes
January 5, 1777 - Paris - The Commissioners formally request french aid
January 13, 1777 - Paris - The Commissioners receive a verbal promise of 2 million "livres"
February 27, 1777 - Passy, near Paris - Franklin settles in Passy. His compound becomes the first american embassy
September 1(?), 1777 - Paris - Franklin and his fellow commissioners go press Vergennes again for french recognition
December 4, 1777 - Passy - A messenger informs Franklin that the british were defeated at Saratoga and that Gen. Burgoyne and his army were prisoners
December 7, 1777 - Passy - Franklin writes a renewed proposal for a french-american alliance. Temple delivers it the next day
December 15(?), 1777 - Paris - The three american commissioners meet with Vergennes. British spymaster Paul Wentworth arrives
January 6, 1778 - Paris - Franklin meets british spymaster Paul Wentworth
February 5, 1778 - Paris - The american commissioners meet in Paris to sign the Treaty with France
February 6, 1778 - Paris - Treaty with France. Franklin uses the same clothes he used when he was humiliated in London before the Privy Council
February 15, 1778 - Paris - Franklin meets Voltaire
February 20, 1778 - Versailles - King Louis XVI receives the three american commissioners at Versailles, making the treaties official. Crowds shout "Vive Franklin" as his coach passed
April 1(?), 1778 - Paris - Franklin and Voltaire join the Lodge of the Nine Sisters
April 29, 1778 - Académie Royal, Paris - Franklin and Voltaire meet once more
May 1(?), 1778 - (While in Paris) - The british withdraw from Philadelphia
May 27, 1778 - Passy - Letter to John Paul Jones - "The Jersey privateers do us a great deal of mischief"
June 1, 1778 - Passy - Letter to John Paul Jones - "I have the Pleasure of informing you that it is propos’d to give you the Command of the great Ship we have built at Amsterdam"
June 10, 1778 - Passy - Letter to John Paul Jones
September 14, 1778 - (While in Paris) - The Congress votes 12-1 in favor of Franklin becoming the sole minister plenipotentiary to France (Ambassador)
November 1(?), 1778 - Abbey of Scellières, Champagne - Attends a memorial service for Voltaire
February 1(?), 1779 - Passy - Suffering with gout, Franklin receives the news of his appointment as Ambassador to France
February 4, 1779 - Passy - Franklin secures for John Paul Jones an old 40-gun man-of-war named "Duc de Duras", which Jones rechristened the "Bonhomme Richard" in his patron's honor. He visits Franklin to thank him
March 23, 1779 - Versailles - Formal presentation to the King and his ministers as American ambassador
May 21, 1779 - Paris - Becomes the venerable Master of the Lodge "Les Neuf Sœurs"
September 1(?), 1779 - Paris - Franklin proposes marriage to Madame Helvétius
June 1(?), 1780 - (While in Passy) - Madame Helvétius flees to spend summer in Tours
October 1(?), 1780 - Passy - Bedridden by malady
January 1(?) 1, 1781 - (While in Paris) - Elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
February 13, 1781 - Passy - Franklin asks Vengennes for money to help the fight against the british
March 1(?), 1781 - Passy - Franklin is informed that France agreed to loan 6 million "livres". He writes to the Congress that he is ready to resign
May 6, 1781 - Passy - Letter to Thomas Jefferson
November 19, 1781 - Paris - News of the american victory at Yorktown reach Vengennes
April 15, 1782 - Paris - Franklin meets with the british peace negociator, Richard Oswald, a merchant and former slave trader
April 16, 1782 - Versailles - Franklin and Oswald meet Vengennes, who proposes to host a general peace conference
July 10, 1782 - Paris - Franklin makes an informal peace offer to Oswald
August 1(?), 1782 - Passy - Franklin is incapacitated during August and September by "cruel gout" and kidney stones
September 1(?), 1782 - Paris - Publication of "Information for those who would remove to America"
October 5, 1782 - Paris - Official Negotiations begin
October 30, 1782 - Paris - American and british negotiators launch an intense week of negotiations
November 30, 1782 - Paris | Passy - American Negotiators meet with their british counterparts at the Grand Hotel Muscovite to sign the provisional Treaty that ended the Revolutionary War. American negotiators go to Passy where Franklin hosts a celebration dinner
August 27, 1783 - Champ de Mars, Paris - Franklin witnesses the world's first hydrogen balloon flight
September 3, 1783 - Paris - Treaty of Paris - Between Great Britain the the USA, signed by Franklin, John Adams and John Jay
November 21, 1783 - Jardin des Tuileries, Paris - Franklin is a guest of honor to witness the first manned hydrogen balloon taking off
November 22, 1783 - Passy - The Montgolfier brothers pay a visit to Franklin
January(?) 1(?), 1784 - Passy - Franklin spends the first half of the year writing more chapters of his autobiography
March 1(?), 1784 - Versailles - Appointed by King Louis XVI to a commission to investigate Franz Mesmer's theory on "Animal Magnetism"
July 13, 1784 - Paris(?) - Franklin meets Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, Comte de Mirabeau, and contributes anonymous materials that the frenchman used in his first signed work "Considerations sur l'ordre de Cincinnatus"
August 21, 1784 - Passy - Letter to George Wheatley, announcing his invention of "bifocal glasses"
September 7, 1784 - Passy - Letter to Benjamin Vaughan, commending Comte de Mirabeau's "Considerations sur l'ordre de Cincinnatus"
May 23, 1785 - Passy - Franklin describes his latest invention: Bifocal glasses
July 12, 1785 - Passy - After the Congress finally accepts his resignation, Benjamin Franklin departs to Le Havre
July 18, 1785 - Le Havre - Franklin and grandsons arrive in Le Havre
July 22, 1785 - Le Havre - Franklin sails to Southampton
July 24, 1785 - Cowes, Isle of Wight - Franklin arrives in Cowes and goes to a hot saltwater spa
July 27, 1785 - Cowes - Franklin sails to the United States aboard Captain Truxtun's "London Packet"
August 19(?), 1785 - Middle of the North Atlantic - The "London Packet" sails into a furious squall
September 11, 1785 - South of Delaware Capes - Reaching the coast of the United States, the "London Packet" receives a pilot aboard
September 14, 1785 - Philadelphia - Franklin arrives in Philadelphia
October 18, 1785 - Philadelphia - Franklin is elected the Sixth president of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania
October 29, 1785 - Philadelphia - Reelected to a full term
December 1(?), 1786 - Philadelphia - Franklin publishes "the Morals of Chess" in "Columbian" Magazine
April 23, 1787 - Philadelphia - Franklin accepts the Presidency of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery
May 13, 1787 - Philadelphia - Washington arrives in Philadelphia. Benjamin Franklin opens his new dining room along with a cask of dark beer to entertain him
May 25, 1787 - Philadelphia - Franklin misses the first day of the Convention due to kidney stones. He asks other delegate to nominate Washington
May 28, 1787 - Philadelphia - Franklin arrives to take his seat at the Convention
June 11, 1787 - Philadelphia - Franklin writes a speech to ask for compromise from all sides of the heated debate
July 16, 1787 - Philadelphia - Franklin's measures of compromise are voted and adopted
October 31, 1787 - Philadelphia - Reelected to President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania
April 1(?), 1788 - Philadelphia - Franklin donates money for the new Synanogue of the Congregation Mikveh Israel
July 4, 1788 - Philadelphia - 4th of July celebrations with Franklin sick in bed
July 17, 1788 - Philadelphia - Last Will and Testament: leaves the bulk of his estate to his daughter Sarah and her family; makes smaller bequests to grandsons William Temple Franklin and Benjamin Bache. Citing "the part he acted against me in the late war," Franklin leaves son William almost nothing
August 1(?), 1788 - Philadelphia - Resumes work on his autobiography
February 12, 1789 - Philadelphia - Franklin presents a formal Abolition petition to Congress
May 1(?), 1789 - Philadelphia - Franklin finishes his autobiography
October 26, 1789 - Philadelphia - Publication of "A Plan for improving the condition of the Free Blacks"
November 9, 1789 - Philadelphia - Publication of "An Address to the Public"
November 13, 1789 - Philadelphia - Famous letter to Jean Baptiste Le Roy: "In this World, nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes"
March 9, 1790 - Philadelphia - Letter to Ezra Stiles, president of Yale University: "Here is my Creed: I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe. That He governs it by his Providence. That he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable Service we can render to him, is doing Good to his other Children…. I think the System of Morals [devised by Jesus] and his Religion as he left them to us, the best the World ever saw, or is likely to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupting Changes, and I have with most of the present Dissenters in England, some Doubts as to his Divinity."
March 23, 1790 - Philadelphia - Publication of "Sidi Mehemet Ibrahim on the Slave Trade" in the "Federal Gazette"
April 7, 1790 - Philadelphia - Thomas Jefferson visits the bedridden Franklin
April 17, 1790 - Philadelphia - Benjamin Franklin dies, aged 84 =(END)
Bibliography
ISAACSON, Walter - "Benjamin Franklin, an american Life", Simon & Schuster
October 3(?), 1723 - New York - Franklin meets the sole printer in New York, William Bradford, who suggests him to continue to Philadelphia, where his son Andrew ran the family print shop and a weekly newspaper there
October 10, 1723 - Philadelphia - Franklin arrives in Philadelphia
October 11, 1723 - Philadelphia - Andrew Bradford takes Franklin to see Philadelphia's other printer, Samuel Keimer, who tests his capabilities and promises to give him work when possible
April 30(?), 1724 - Philadelphia - Franklin boards a ship heading to Boston
May 1(?), 1724 - Boston - Franklin asks his father for a loan to start a printing business in Philadelphia, which he refuses
November 5, 1724 - Philadelphia - Franklin departs to London aboard the ship "London Hope" in company of aspiring poet James Ralph. He meets the merchant Thomas Denham aboard
December 24, 1724 - London, England - Franklin arrives in London on Christmas Eve. He finds a job at the famous printing house of Samuel Palmer
March(?) 1(?), 1725 - London - Franklin writes "A dissertation on Liberty and necessity, pleasure and pain"
December 24, 1725 - London - Franklin switches to a better paying job at a larger printing house, owned by John Watts
June(?) 1(?), 1726 - London - Thomas Denham offers to pay Franklin's passage if he would agree to sign on as his clerk at £50 a year. The idea of becoming a merchant interests Franklin
July 21, 1726 - Gravesend - Franklin and Thomas Denham depart to Philadelphia aboard the ship "Berkshire". The ship anchors for the night at Gravesend, Franklin goes ashore
July 23, 1726 - Margate - The "Berkshire" anchors at Margate, almost with no wind
July 27, 1726 - Spithead, Off Portsmouth - Franklin examines the harbor and fortifications at Portsmouth during a stop due to western winds
July 28, 1726 - Isle of Wight - Another delay allows a tour of the Isle of Wight
July 30, 1726 - Yarmouth - The "Berkshire" anchors at Yarmouth
August 8, 1726 - The Lizard - Twenty days after leaving London, the "Berkshire" reaches the Lizard—the promontory that marks England’s southmost point—and enter the open ocean in contrary winds
October 9, 1726 - Cape Henlopen, Delaware - The passengers of the "Berkshire" sight Cape Henlopen
October 11, 1726 - Redbank, 6 miles from Philadelphia - Franklin and Thomas Denham return to Philadelphia
February 1(?), 1727 - Philadelphia - Franklin suffers his first pleusiry attack and nearly dies (cause of his death in 1790)
February 10(?), 1727 - Philadelphia - Thomas Denham dies. Franklin goes back to Keimer's printing shop as manager
October(?) 1(?), 1727 - Philadelphia - Franklin, aged 21, creates the "Junto", a group of "like minded aspiring artisans and tradesmen who hoped to improve themselves while they improved their community"
June 1, 1728 - Philadelphia - Franklin sets up a printing house in partnership with Hugh Meredith
November 28, 1728 - Philadelphia - Franklin publishes "Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion"
January 24, 1729 - Philadelphia - "Martha Careful" letter complaining about Samuel Keimer
January 28, 1729 - Philadelphia - "CÆlia Shortface" letter complaining about Samuel Keimer
February 28, 1729 - Philadelphia - "Busy-body" letter
April 3, 1729 - Philadelphia - Franklin publishes "A modest enquiry into the Nature and necessity of a Paper Currency"
October 2, 1729 - Philadelphia - Franklin becomes the publisher of a news paper called "The Pennsylvania Gazette"January 30, 1730 - Philadelphia - The Pennsylvania Assembly elects Franklin and Hugh Meredith as the official government printers
July 14, 1730 - Philadelphia - Franklin purchases Meredith's side of the printing business and becomes sole proprietor
September 1, 1730 - Philadelphia - Franklin establishes a common-law marriage with Deborah Read
January(?) 1(?), 1731 - Philadelphia - By the time Deborah Read starts living with Franklin, he takes custody of an illegitimate son, William
February 1, 1731 - Philadelphia - Franklin is initiated into the local Masonic lodge
June 10, 1731 - Philadelphia - Publication of "Apology for Printers", in defence of press freedom
July 1, 1731 - Philadelphia - Franklin composes the charter of the "Library Company of Philadelphia"
September 3, 1731 - Philadelphia - Franklin sponsors his journeyman Thomas Whitmarsh as his printing partner in South Carolina, advancing the printing press and types in return for one-third of the profits over a six-year term
June 24, 1732 - Philadelphia - Franklin publishes the first German-language newspaper in America - "Die Philadelphische Zeitung"July 24, 1732 - Philadelphia - "Celia Single" letter
September 12, 1732 - Philadelphia - "Alice Addertongue" letter
October 20, 1732 - Philadelphia - Francis Folger Franklin is born
December 28, 1732 - Philadelphia - Franklin publishes the first "Poor Richard's Almanack", under the name "Richard Saunders"
November 26, 1733 - Philadelphia - Franklin hires the first american Librarian, Louis Timothee
June 24, 1734 - Philadelphia - Franklin becomes a masonic Grand Master
February 4, 1735 - Philadelphia - Franklin sends 500 copies of "Poor Richard's Almanack" to his brother's widow for free, so that she could make money selling them
October 15, 1736 - Philadelphia - After Andrew Hamilton wins the reelection for the Assembly, he chooses Franklin as the clerk
November 21, 1736 - Philadelphia - Francis Folger Franklin dies, aged 4
December 7, 1736 - Philadelphia - Franklin assists in the formation of a volunteer fire department, sometimes called "Benjamin Franklin's Bucket Brigade"January(?) 1(?), 1737 - Philadelphia - Franklin is appointed postmaster of Philadelphia
February 15, 1739 - Philadelphia - Franklin's house is robbed by William Lloyd
May 15, 1739 - Philadelphia - Franklin begins a campaign to clean up the tan-yards on the Philadelphia docks
November 6, 1740 - Philadelphia - Bradford announces plans for the "American Magazine", after a Franklin's idea leaked by a friend
December 1(?), 1740 - Philadelphia - Franklin begins designing the Pennsylvania fireplace
February 5, 1741 - Philadelphia - Franklin advertises an early version of the Pennsylvania fireplace for sale
February 13, 1741 - Philadelphia - Bradford and Webbe's "American Magazine" comes off the press
February 16, 1741 - Philadelphia - Benjamin Franklin's "General Magazine" comes off the press
January(?) 1(?), 1743 - Philadelphia - Franklin founds the American Philosophical Society
May 14, 1743 - Philadelphia - Publication of "A proposal for promoting useful knowledge among the british plantations in America"
September 11, 1743 - Philadelphia - Sarah "Sally" Franklin is born
October 21, 1743 - Philadelphia - A storm moving from the southwest denies Franklin the opportunity of witnessing a lunar eclipse. Franklin was said to have noted that the prevailing winds were actually from the northeast, contrary to what he had expected. In correspondence with his brother, Franklin learned that the same storm had not reached Boston until after the eclipse, despite the fact that Boston is to the northeast of Philadelphia. He deduced that storms do not always travel in the direction of the prevailing wind, a concept that greatly influenced meteorology.
January 16, 1745 - (While in Philadelphia) - Josiah Franklin dies in Boston, aged 87
April 1(?), 1745 - Philadelphia - Peter Collinson sends a glass tube, together with a pamphlet describing the recent german electrical experiments to the Library Company, thus starting Franklin's electrical experiments
June 25, 1745 - Philadelphia - Franklin publishes "Advice to a friend on Choosing a Mistress"
July(?) 1(?), 1746 - Boston - Franklin starts exploring the phenomenon of electricity in 1746 when he attends some of Archibald Spencer's lectures using static electricity for illustrations
September 1(?), 1746 - Philadelphia(?) - William leaves home with an ensign's commission on a military expedition to Canada
March 28, 1747 - Philadelphia - Letter to Peter Collinson, a businessman from London, thanking him, and saying the tube and instructions had motivated him and several colleagues to begin serious experiments with electricity
April 15, 1747 - Philadelphia - "The speech of Polly Baker" is published in the "Gentleman's Magazine"
November 17, 1747 - Philadelphia - Publication of the political pamphlet "Plain Truth", about the need of defence agains french and spanish privateers
November 24, 1747 - Philadelphia - Franklin helps organizing a volunteer militia - the Associators - for the defence of Pennsylvania
January 1, 1748 - Philadelphia - Franklin, already very wealthy, retires from printing. He creates a partnership with his foreman, David Hall, which provides Franklin with half of the shop's profits for 18 years. This lucrative business arrangement provided leisure time for study, and in a few years he had made discoveries that gave him a reputation with educated persons throughout Europe and especially in France
April 1(?), 1748 - Philadelphia - Franklin constructs a multiple plate capacitor, that he called an "electrical battery" by placing eleven panes of glass sandwiched between lead plates, suspended with silk cords and connected by wires
October 1(?), 1748 - Philadelphia - Franklin is selected as a councilman
April 1(?), 1749 - Philadelphia - Franklin begins sketching a theory about Lightning
June 1(?), 1749 - Philadelphia - Franklin becomes a "Justice of the Peace" for Philadelphia
October 23, 1749 - Philadelphia - Franklin publishes "Proposals relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania"
November 1(?), 1749 - Philadelphia - Diary entry about the similarities between electrical sparks and lightning
November 13, 1749 - Philadelphia - Appointed president of the "Academy"
January(?) 1(?), 1750 - Philadelphia - Publishes a proposal for an experiment to prove that lightning is electricity, by flying a kite in a storm that appeared capable of becoming a lightning Storm
February 1(?), 1750 - Philadelphia - Franklin's first attack of gout
April 12, 1750 - Philadelphia - Letter to his mother, refering to William "as now 19 years of age"
July 29, 1750 - Philadelphia - Letter to Peter Collinson, a businessman from London, describing and proposing lightning rods as a means to protect buildings from fire
December 23, 1750 - Philadelphia - Franklin is severely shocked while electrocuting a turkey
January(?) 1(?), 1751 - Philadelphia - In a pamphlet on demographic growth and its implications for the colonies, he called the Pennsylvania Germans "Palatine Boors" who could never acquire the "Complexion" of the English settlers and to "Blacks and Tawneys" as weakening the social structure of the colonies
February 1(?), 1751 - Philadelphia - Franklin and Dr. Thomas Bond obtain a charter from the Pennsylvania legislature to establish a hospital. Pennsylvania Hospital is the first hospital in what was to become the United States of America
May 9, 1751 - Philadelphia - Franklin is elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly
August 13, 1751 - Philadelphia - The "Academy" opens for the secondary schooling of boys
September 7, 1751 - Philadelphia - Franklin organizes the Philadelphia Contributionship, the first homeowner's insurance company in what would become the United States
February 6, 1752 - Philadelphia - The Pennsylvania Hospital opens in Philadelphia
May 8, 1752 - (While in Philadelphia) - In Boston, Franklin's mother dies, aged 84
May 10, 1752 - (While in Philadelphia) - The french replicate Franklin's experiment with success
 |
| The kite experiment |
August 27, 1752 - Philadelphia - The "Pennsylvania Gazette" reprints a letter about the french lightning experiments
September 1(?), 1752 - Philadelphia - Franklin equips his house with a lightning rod, connecting it to bells that ring when the rod is electrified
October 19, 1752 - Philadelphia - Franklin describes his kite experiment in the "Pennsylvania Gazette". Publishes "Elementa Philosophica"
December 8, 1752 - Philadelphia - Franklin designs a flexible catheter for his brother John, who was suffering from a bladder stone
June 15(?), 1753 - Philadelphia - Franklin departs Philadelphia for New England
June 18(?), 1753 - New York - Franklin arrives in New York. Dr.William Smith accompanies him to Connecticut
June 23(?), 1753 - Stratford, Connecticut - Franklin and Dr.William Smith meet Dr.Samuel Johnson
June 26, 1753 - New Haven, Connecticut - Letter to Peter Collinson, introducing Dr.William Smith
July 27, 1753 - New Haven, Connecticut - Franklin is awarded honorary degree of Master of Arts from Harvard College on 25th. President Edward Holyoke presented it to Franklin two days later, with a tin box, emblazoned with the college arms, to keep it in.
August 10, 1753 - Philadelphia(?) - Franklin is appointed deputy postmaster-general of British North America
September 12, 1753 - Cambridge, Massachusetts(?) - Franklin is awarded honorary degree of Master of Arts from Yale College
October 1, 1753 - Carlisle (between Philadelphia and Ohio River) - Carlisle Conference - Franklin is chosen as one of 3 commissioners from Philadelphia to attend the Conference with a congregation of the Delaware indians
November 30. 1753 - (While in Philadelphia?) - Franklin receives the Royal Society's Copley Medal
 |
| The first political cartoon, 1754 |
June 9, 1754 - New York - Benjamin Franklin departs on a sloop to Albany
June 15(?), 1754 - Albany, New York - Heads the Pennsylvania delegation to the Albany Congress
July 10, 1754 - Albany - The Commissioners finally vote on a plan to establish a national congress composed of representatives selected by each state roughly in proportion to their population and wealth, and the executive would be a "President General" appointed by the king
August 17, 1754 - Albany - The Pennsylvania Assembly rejects the Albany Plan, as do the other colonies and the British government
December(?) 1(?), 1754 - Boston, Massachusetts - 49-year old Franklin meets 23-year old Catherine Ray
December 29(?), 1754 - Newport - Travels with Catherine Ray by carriage to visit her sister in Newport
March 4, 1755 - Philadelphia - Letter to Catherine Ray
April 26, 1755 - Fredericktown, Maryland - Meeting with british General Edward Braddock, to discuss the handling of military dispatches
November 25, 1755 - (While in postal inspection trip) - Franklin’s militia bill for Pennsylvania is adopted by the Assembly
December 9, 1755 - Halifax, Canada - Franklin opens the first post office to offer regular, monthly mail in what would later become Canada
January 17, 1756 - Lehigh Gap - 50th birthday, camping at the Lehigh Gap - overseeing the construction of a line of stockades
January 29, 1756 - (While in postal inspection trip) - Franklin is elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society.
March 9, 1756 - (While in postal inspection trip) - Pennsylvania Assembly passed Franklin’s bill for providing night watchmen and street lighting for Philadelphia
March 21, 1756 - Williamsburg, Virginia - Meets George Washington during his postal inspection trip.
April 2, 1756 - Williamsburg - Receives an honorary master of arts degree from the College of William and Mary
February 3, 1757 - Philadelphia - Pennsylvania Assembly elects Franklin its agent in presenting its grievances to the Penn family proprietors and the British government
February 20, 1757 - New York - Franklin arrives in New York. Letter to John Campbell Loudoun
June 2, 1757 - New York - Letters to Ezra Stiles and Elizabeth Graeme
June 23, 1757 - Philadelphia - Franklin is sent to England by the Pennsylvania Assembly as a colonial agent to protest against the political influence of the Penn family, the proprietors of the colony. Franklin departs to London with his son William, writing "Father Abraham's Sermon" at sea
July 16(?), 1757 - Scilly Islands, England - His ship narrowly avoids being wrecked on the Scilly Islands when it sought to evade french privateers in the fog
July 18, 1757 - Falmouth, England - Letter to Deborah Read
July 26, 1757 - London - Franklin and William arrive in London
August 20, 1757 - London - Franklin begins a series of meetings with the primary Proprietor of Pennsylvania, Thomas Penn, and his brother Richard
January(?) 1(?), 1758 - London - Franklin advocates the opening of a school for the education of black slaves in Philadelphia. Back in Philadelphia, "Poor Richard's Almanack" is published for the last time
January 13, 1758 - London - Negotiations break after the rancorous meeting with Thomas Penn
June 10, 1758 - Cambridge - Visit to Cambridge University - Franklin conducts a series of experiments on evaporation with the renowned chemist John Hadley
July 1(?), 1758 - Ecton, 60 miles NW of London - Genealogical excursion to Ecton, where generations of Franklins had lived
August 20, 1758 - Turnbridge Wells - Letter to Mary Stevenson
October(?) 1(?), 1758 - London - Returns to London. Submits a brief on the Delawares' behalf to the Privy Council
December 2, 1758 - London - Franklin invents a damper for stoves or chimneys
December 12, 1758 - (While in London) - Franklin is awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of St.Andrews
June 1(?), 1759 - London - The Privy Council rules against Franklin - The Pennsylvania Assembly cannot be compared to the House of Commons
August 8, 1759 - London - Franklin and William leave London and head north
August 10, 1759 - Manchester - Franklin arrives in Manchester. Stays for a few days and continues to Liverpool
August 29, 1759 - Liverpool - Letter to Deborah Read before departing Liverpool
September 1, 1759 - Edinburgh, Scotland - Franklin and William arrive in Edinburgh and find lodge with Mrs Cowan in Milne Square
September 5, 1759 - Edinburgh - Franklin and William are admitted Guild Brethren of the City of Edinburgh at a ceremony presided over by the Great Lord Provost Drummond
September 8, 1759 - Edinburgh - William Strahan visits Franklin
September 11, 1759 - Edinburgh - Meeting with William Strahan, the Duke of Argyll, Lord Lyttelton and other magistrates
September 13, 1759 - Edinburgh - Dinner with Alexander Kincaid
September 17, 1759 - Glasgow - The franklins depart for Glasgow, passing en route the site of the new Carron Ironworks
September 19, 1759 - Glasgow - Admitted burgess and guild brother of the City of Glasgow
September 20(?), 1759 - Highlands | Inverary - A week or two visiting the Highlands and Inverary
October 2, 1759 - St.Andrews, Scotland - Franklin is admitted a Guild Brother and received by the University in their Library
October 4, 1759 - Edinburgh - Returns to Edinburgh
October 6, 1759 - Prestonfield, Scotland - Visit to Sir Alexander and Lady Dick
October 12, 1759 - Prestonfield - Franklin departs Prestonfield
October 15(?), 1759 - Berwickshire, Scotland - Franklin meets Lord Kames. Then travels through Yorkshire and Lincolnshire
November 2, 1759 - London - Franklin returns to London
February 1(?), 1760 - (while in London) - William has an illegitimate son, William Temple Franklin, known as "Temple"
March 6, 1760 - (While in London) - Franklin elected chairman of the Associates of Dr. Bray, a philanthropic group that sponsored charity schools for blacks in Philadelphia, New York, Rhode Island, and Williamsburg, Virginia
April 17, 1760 - London - Publication of "The interest of Great Britain considered with regard to Her Colonies"
August 10, 1761 - London - Letter to Mary Stevenson
August 15, 1761 - Harwich - Franklin departs for a short trip to Flanders and the Netherlands
August 17(?), 1761 - Antwerp - Visit to Flanders - Antwerp, Ghent, Bruge. Visit to Mr.Crellius in Amsterdam
September 5, 1761 - Leyden, Netherlands - Visit to Pieter van Musschenbroek, just before his death
September 14, 1761 - Utrecht, Netherlands - Letter to Deborah Read from Holland
September 22, 1761 - Westminster Abbey, London - Franklin returns to London to attend King George III's coronation
April 30, 1762 - Oxford - Awarded an honorary doctorate by Oxford University
July 13, 1762 - London - Letter to Giambatista Beccaria, a scientist, describing his most recent invention: The glass armonica
August 16, 1762 - Portsmouth - Letter to John Morgan, while waiting for wind to sail to America
August 24, 1762 - Portsmouth - Benjamin Franklin finally sails from England aboard the "Carolina", escorted by the "HMS Scarborough"
September 4, 1762 - (while sailing to America) - William Franklin marries Elizabeth Downes in London
September 9, 1762 - (while sailing to America) - King George III commissions William Franklin the Royal Governor of New Jersey
October(?) 1(?), 1762 - Madeira Island, Portugal - 3-day stop at Madeira Island. The "Carolina" replenishes its stores, just in time of their vintage.
November 1, 1762 - Philadelphia - Benjamin Franklin returns to Philadelphia
December 7, 1762 - Philadelphia - Letter to William Strahan, describing his ocean crossing
February 26, 1763 - Perth Amboy, New Jersey - Letter to Cadwallader Colden
April 1(?), 1763 - Philadelphia - Franklin departs on a 7-months postal inspection tour
June 16, 1763 - New York - Letter to Deborah Read
August 1, 1763 - Boston - Letter to Catherine Ray
September 5, 1763 - Boston - Letter to Catherine Ray
September 22, 1763 - Boston - Letters to William Strahan, John Ellicott and Richard Jackson
October 11, 1763 - Boston - Letter to Francis Bernard
October 18, 1763 - Newport - Letter to Joshua Babcock
October 30, 1763 - Boston - Letter to Francis Bernard. Franklin departs Boston
October 31, 1763 - New York - Letter to Deborah Read
November 5(?), 1763 - Philadelphia - Franklin returns to Philadelphia
January 27(?), 1764 - Philadelphia - Publication of "A narrative of the late massacres in Lancaster Country"
March 1(?), 1764 - Philadelphia - "Necklace of resolves" - 26 resolutions calling for the end of Proprietary Government
May 26, 1764 - Philadelphia - Elected Speaker of the Pennsylvania House
October 1, 1764 - Philadelphia - Franklin looses his seat in the October 1764 Assembly elections
November 7, 1764 - Chester, Pennsylvania - The anti-proprietary party dispatches Franklin to England again to continue the struggle against the Penn family proprietorship. During this trip, events drastically change the nature of his mission. Franklin departs to England aboard the "King of Prussia". More than 300 supporters cheer him
December 9, 1764 - Saint Helen's Road, Isle of Wight - The "King of Prussia" arrives off the Isle of Wight. Letter to Deborah Read
December 27, 1764 - London - Franklin arrives in London. Letter to Deborah Read
February 1(?), 1765 - London - Franklin and other colonial agents meet with the Prime Minister George Grenville
February 27, 1765 - Whitehall, London - Stamp Act is approved in the House of Commons
September 16, 1765 - (While in London) - In Philadelphia, a mob gathers accusing Franklin of advocating the Stamp Act and set out to burn his house. It is later defended by his supporters
January 15, 1766 - London - "Homespun" letter
January 23, 1766 - London - "Pacificus" and "A friend of both countries" letters
February 1(?), 1766 - House of Lords, London - makes a case for paper money to the British House of Commons
February 13, 1766 - London - Presents his case directly to the Parliament - Becomes the de facto ambassador of America - His reputation in Philadelphia is restored
June 15, 1766 - London - Benjamin Franklin and John Pringle depart to Germany
June 22, 1766 - Bad Pyrmont - Niedersachsen, Germany - Franklin and Pringle arrive for a stay in the spa town of Bad Pyrmont
July 9, 1766 - Hannover - Visit to Johann Friedrich Hartman and the Royal Library. Electrical experiments with Hartman
July 19, 1766 - Göttingen - Franklin and Pringle are admitted as members of the Royal Academy of Göttingen
July 22, 1766 - Kassel - Franklin and Pringle reach Kassel. Then proceed to Frankfurt and Mainz.
August 16, 1766 - London - Franklin and Pringle return to London, via Holland
December(?) 1(?), 1766 - (While in London) - The printing partnership with David Hall expires after 18 years
April 11, 1767 - London - "Benevolus" Letter
June 22, 1767 - London - Letter to Deborah Read about the loss of income from the "Gazette"
August 28, 1767 - London - Benjamin Franklin and Sir John Pringle depart to France
August 29, 1767 - Dover | Calais - Franklin and Pringle board a ship to Calais
September 14, 1767 - Paris - Letter to Mary Stevenson about his stay in France
October 29, 1767 - London - Sally Franklin marries Richard Bache, a merchant from Philadelphia
January 5, 1768 - London - Publication of "Causes of the american discontents"
July 20, 1768 - Richmond, London - Develops a phonetic alphabet in "A Scheme for a new Alphabet and a Reformed Mode of Spelling"
August 13, 1768 - London - Franklin admits Richard Bache in his family for the first time in a letter
August 20, 1768 - London - Meeting with Lord Hillsborough, who declares he doesn't intend to appoint Franklin an official to the British Ministry overseeing colonial affairs - Turning Point
October(?) 1(?), 1768 - London - Franklin has maps printed showing the course of the Gulf Stream
January 2, 1769 - (While in London) - The American Philosophical Society elects Benjamin Franklin its President
August 12, 1769 - (While in London) - Grandson Benjamin Franklin Bache is born
January 2, 1770 - London - Parable - Dog and Lion
January 26, 1770 - London - Publication of "A conversation about Slavery"
January 16, 1771 - London - Meeting with Lord Hillsborough as agent of the Massachusetts Lower House - Hillsborough doesn't accept his credentials
May 18, 1771 - London - Franklin departs to North England. Arrival in Northampton at the end of the day
May 20, 1771 - Mathlock Bath, Derbyshire - Arrival in Matlock Bath, via Leicester
May 21, 1771 - Manchester - Franklin embarks in a luxurious horse-drawn boat owned by the Duke of Bridgewater that takes him onto an aqueduct that crossed a river before ending in a coal mine
May 23, 1771 - Leeds - Visit to Leeds
May 24, 1771 - Sheffield - Tour of the Marquis of Rockingham's estate, before reaching Sheffield at the end of the day
May 25, 1771 - Rotherham - Visit to an iron and tin factory in Rotherham
May 26, 1771 - Chatsworth | Derby - Tour of the Duke of Devonshire's mansion. Arrival in Derby
May 27, 1771 - Derby - Visit to the silk mill and to the china and pottery manufactures
May 28, 1771 - Birmingham - Arrival in Birmingham, via Lichfield. Visit to the Metal casting Shops of Birmingham
June 4, 1771 - London - Franklin returns to London to be at Court for the King's birthday
June(?) 12(?), 1771 - Twyford, outside Winchester - Franklin visits Jonathan Shipley at Twyford. Franklin begins writing his autobiography
June 24, 1771 - London - Letter to Jonathan Shipley
August 14, 1771 - London - Letter to Deborah Read
August 30(?), 1771 - London - Franklin departs to Ireland and Scotland with Richard Jackson, another pennsylvanian agent in England
September 5, 1771 - Dublin, Ireland - Franklin arrives in Dublin in company of colonial agent Richard Jackson
September 10(?), 1771 - Dublin - Franklin receives the honor of being invited to sit with the members of the Irish Parliament
October 23, 1771 - Dublin(?) - Franklin departs from Ireland
October 27, 1771 - Edinburgh, Scotland - Franklin arrives in Edinburgh and is lodged at David Hume's inn. Letter to William Strahan
November 6, 1771 - Edinburgh - Franklin and Marchand set out for Blair-Drummond, property of Lord Kames
November 11(?), 1771 - Blair Drummond, near Stirling, Scotland - Five days stay with Lord Kames near Stirling
November 16, 1771 - Glasgow | Carron, Falkirk - Visit to the University. Stop at Carron Iron Works, where James Watt was developing the steam engine
November 17, 1771 - Edinburgh - Back in Edinburgh. Letter to William Strahan
November 19, 1771 - Edinburgh - Dinner with Lord Kames, and on 20th with Adam Ferguson
November 21, 1771 - Edinburgh - Franklin departs Edinburgh
November 23, 1771 - Carlisle - Franklin reaches Carlisle
November 25, 1771 - Preston - In Preston with the Bache family. Letter to Mary Hewson
December 14, 1771 - London - Letter to Jonathan Shipley
January 13, 1772 - London - Letter to Thomas Cushing - "I am now return’d again to London from a Journey of some Months in Ireland and Scotland"
July 7, 1772 - Birmingham - Franklin arrives in Birmingham
December 2, 1772 - London - Franklin obtains private letters of Thomas Hutchinson and Andrew Oliver, governor and lieutenant governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, that proved they were encouraging the Crown to crack down on Bostonians. Franklin secretly sends the packet of letters to Thomas Cushing, speaker of the Massachusetts Assembly. Benjamin Franklin saw the opportunity to discretely pass along some secret British government documents to a small group of influential leaders in Boston. The aim was to show those prominent people that the instigation of the bad feelings against Americans didn’t stem from Parliamentary ministers. The main troublemaker had been right in their Bostonian midst. It turned out, Franklin discovered, that Gov. Hutchinson had been feeding bad advice to key British officials all along. He was the main trouble maker.
June 20, 1773 - (While in London) - The hutchinson letters are leaked to the public in the "Boston Gazette", causing a political firestorm in Massachusetts and raising significant questions in England
September 1(?), 1773 - London - Franklin publishes "Rules by which a Great Empire may be reduced to a small one", and "An Edict by the King of Prussia"
December 25, 1773 - London - Franklin writes in the London "Chronicle" that he was the person that obtained and transmitted to Boston the Hutchinson letters
January 29, 1774 - London - Franklin writes in the London "Chronicle" that he was the person that obtained and transmitted to Boston the Hutchinson letters
January 31, 1774 - London - Franklin is dismissed of his post as American Postmaster due to his sympathies for the rebel cause in the American Revolution
April 17, 1774 - London - Franklin attends the inaugural session of the Essex Street Chapel, in the beginning of the British Unitarianism
December 14, 1774 - (While in London) - Deborah read suffers a second stroke and dies, aged 66
December 24, 1774 - London - Franklin receives a letter from William informing him that Deborah Read had died
December 25, 1774 - London - Visit to Mrs.Howe(*) for a chess match. (*) Sister of Admiral Richard Howe and General William Howe
February 1, 1775 - House of Lords, London - Franklin is present when Lord Chatham presents a new colonial plan to the House of Lords
March 19, 1775 - London - Meeting with Whig orator and philosopher Edmund Burke
March 20, 1775 - London - Benjamin Franklin departs to America with his 15-year old grandson Temple, abandoning his accommodationist stance
May 5, 1775 - Philadelphia - Franklin and Temple arrive in Philadelphia
May 6, 1775 - Philadelphia - Franklin is selected as a member of the Continental Congress
May 15, 1775 - Trevose, Bucks County, N of Philadelphia - Benjamin Franklin and grandson meet William Franklin
February 15, 1776 - Philadelphia - The Continental Congress appoints three emissaries to Canada (one of them Franklin) to analyze the situation and propose solutions to the difficulties the Continental Army was experiencing there
March 3(?), 1776 - Perth Amboy, New Jersey - Passing by Perth Amboy, Franklin doesn't visit his son, now an enemy
April 29, 1776 - Montreal, Quebec - Franklin arrives in Montreal
May 11, 1776 - Montreal - Franklin departs Montreal to return to Philadelphia
May 12, 1776 - St.John's - Letter to Philip Schuyler
May 27, 1776 - New York - Letters to Charles Carroll and Samuel Chase
June 3, 1776 - Philadelphia - Franklin starts suffering from gout. Return to Philadelphia. Visit by George Washington
June 11, 1776 - Philadelphia - Franklin is appointed a member of the Committee of Five that drafts the Declaration of Independence
June 21, 1776 - Philadelphia - Franklin receives a draft of the Declaration of Independence from Thomas Jefferson. He makes only minor changes. Letter to George Washington
July 2, 1776 - Philadelphia - The Continental Congress votes for Independence
July 4, 1776 - Philadelphia - Declaration of Independence. Congress appointed a three-member committee composed of Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams to design the Great Seal of the United States. Franklin's proposal (which was not adopted) featured the motto: "Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God" and a scene from the Book of Exodus, with Moses, the Israelites, the pillar of fire, and George III depicted as pharaoh =(changeflag)
July 30, 1776 - Philadelphia - Franklin obtains permission from the Congress to reply to a letter of Admiral Howe
September 9, 1776 - New Brunswick - On the way to Staten Island, Franklin and Adams share a bed at an inn
September 11, 1776 - Staten Island - Franklin, Adams and Edward Rutledge meet Admiral Howe
September 26, 1776 - Philadelphia - The Continental Congress appoints Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and Silas Deane to serve as Commissioners to France; Jefferson declines
October 27, 1776 - Philadelphia - Franklin sails to France with his grandsons Temple and Benny, aboard the warship "Reprisal"
November 29, 1776 - Auray, Brittany - Sighting the coast of Brittany, the exhausted Franklin has a fishing boat ferry him to the village of Auray
December(?) 1(?), 1776 - Nantes, France - His carriage reaches Nantes. Franklin is welcomed as a celebrity. His soft fur hat becomes the fashion of the day
December 21, 1776 - Paris - Franklin reaches Paris. His fame was so great that people lined the streets hoping to get a glimpse of his entry in the City
December 28, 1776 - Paris - Franklin meets France's foreign Minister, the Comte de Vergennes
 |
| Benjamin Franklin with fur cap, 1777 |
January 13, 1777 - Paris - The Commissioners receive a verbal promise of 2 million "livres"
February 27, 1777 - Passy, near Paris - Franklin settles in Passy. His compound becomes the first american embassy
September 1(?), 1777 - Paris - Franklin and his fellow commissioners go press Vergennes again for french recognition
December 4, 1777 - Passy - A messenger informs Franklin that the british were defeated at Saratoga and that Gen. Burgoyne and his army were prisoners
December 7, 1777 - Passy - Franklin writes a renewed proposal for a french-american alliance. Temple delivers it the next day
December 15(?), 1777 - Paris - The three american commissioners meet with Vergennes. British spymaster Paul Wentworth arrives
January 6, 1778 - Paris - Franklin meets british spymaster Paul Wentworth
February 5, 1778 - Paris - The american commissioners meet in Paris to sign the Treaty with France
February 6, 1778 - Paris - Treaty with France. Franklin uses the same clothes he used when he was humiliated in London before the Privy Council
February 15, 1778 - Paris - Franklin meets Voltaire
 |
| Benjamin Franklin at Versailles, 1778 |
April 1(?), 1778 - Paris - Franklin and Voltaire join the Lodge of the Nine Sisters
April 29, 1778 - Académie Royal, Paris - Franklin and Voltaire meet once more
May 1(?), 1778 - (While in Paris) - The british withdraw from Philadelphia
May 27, 1778 - Passy - Letter to John Paul Jones - "The Jersey privateers do us a great deal of mischief"
June 1, 1778 - Passy - Letter to John Paul Jones - "I have the Pleasure of informing you that it is propos’d to give you the Command of the great Ship we have built at Amsterdam"
June 10, 1778 - Passy - Letter to John Paul Jones
September 14, 1778 - (While in Paris) - The Congress votes 12-1 in favor of Franklin becoming the sole minister plenipotentiary to France (Ambassador)
November 1(?), 1778 - Abbey of Scellières, Champagne - Attends a memorial service for Voltaire
February 1(?), 1779 - Passy - Suffering with gout, Franklin receives the news of his appointment as Ambassador to France
February 4, 1779 - Passy - Franklin secures for John Paul Jones an old 40-gun man-of-war named "Duc de Duras", which Jones rechristened the "Bonhomme Richard" in his patron's honor. He visits Franklin to thank him
March 23, 1779 - Versailles - Formal presentation to the King and his ministers as American ambassador
May 21, 1779 - Paris - Becomes the venerable Master of the Lodge "Les Neuf Sœurs"
September 1(?), 1779 - Paris - Franklin proposes marriage to Madame Helvétius
June 1(?), 1780 - (While in Passy) - Madame Helvétius flees to spend summer in Tours
October 1(?), 1780 - Passy - Bedridden by malady
January 1(?) 1, 1781 - (While in Paris) - Elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
February 13, 1781 - Passy - Franklin asks Vengennes for money to help the fight against the british
March 1(?), 1781 - Passy - Franklin is informed that France agreed to loan 6 million "livres". He writes to the Congress that he is ready to resign
May 6, 1781 - Passy - Letter to Thomas Jefferson
November 19, 1781 - Paris - News of the american victory at Yorktown reach Vengennes
April 15, 1782 - Paris - Franklin meets with the british peace negociator, Richard Oswald, a merchant and former slave trader
April 16, 1782 - Versailles - Franklin and Oswald meet Vengennes, who proposes to host a general peace conference
July 10, 1782 - Paris - Franklin makes an informal peace offer to Oswald
August 1(?), 1782 - Passy - Franklin is incapacitated during August and September by "cruel gout" and kidney stones
September 1(?), 1782 - Paris - Publication of "Information for those who would remove to America"
October 5, 1782 - Paris - Official Negotiations begin
October 30, 1782 - Paris - American and british negotiators launch an intense week of negotiations
November 30, 1782 - Paris | Passy - American Negotiators meet with their british counterparts at the Grand Hotel Muscovite to sign the provisional Treaty that ended the Revolutionary War. American negotiators go to Passy where Franklin hosts a celebration dinner
August 27, 1783 - Champ de Mars, Paris - Franklin witnesses the world's first hydrogen balloon flight
September 3, 1783 - Paris - Treaty of Paris - Between Great Britain the the USA, signed by Franklin, John Adams and John Jay
November 21, 1783 - Jardin des Tuileries, Paris - Franklin is a guest of honor to witness the first manned hydrogen balloon taking off
November 22, 1783 - Passy - The Montgolfier brothers pay a visit to Franklin
January(?) 1(?), 1784 - Passy - Franklin spends the first half of the year writing more chapters of his autobiography
March 1(?), 1784 - Versailles - Appointed by King Louis XVI to a commission to investigate Franz Mesmer's theory on "Animal Magnetism"
July 13, 1784 - Paris(?) - Franklin meets Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, Comte de Mirabeau, and contributes anonymous materials that the frenchman used in his first signed work "Considerations sur l'ordre de Cincinnatus"
August 21, 1784 - Passy - Letter to George Wheatley, announcing his invention of "bifocal glasses"
September 7, 1784 - Passy - Letter to Benjamin Vaughan, commending Comte de Mirabeau's "Considerations sur l'ordre de Cincinnatus"
May 23, 1785 - Passy - Franklin describes his latest invention: Bifocal glasses
July 12, 1785 - Passy - After the Congress finally accepts his resignation, Benjamin Franklin departs to Le Havre
July 18, 1785 - Le Havre - Franklin and grandsons arrive in Le Havre
July 22, 1785 - Le Havre - Franklin sails to Southampton
July 24, 1785 - Cowes, Isle of Wight - Franklin arrives in Cowes and goes to a hot saltwater spa
July 27, 1785 - Cowes - Franklin sails to the United States aboard Captain Truxtun's "London Packet"
August 19(?), 1785 - Middle of the North Atlantic - The "London Packet" sails into a furious squall
September 11, 1785 - South of Delaware Capes - Reaching the coast of the United States, the "London Packet" receives a pilot aboard
September 14, 1785 - Philadelphia - Franklin arrives in Philadelphia
October 18, 1785 - Philadelphia - Franklin is elected the Sixth president of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania
October 29, 1785 - Philadelphia - Reelected to a full term
December 1(?), 1786 - Philadelphia - Franklin publishes "the Morals of Chess" in "Columbian" Magazine
April 23, 1787 - Philadelphia - Franklin accepts the Presidency of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery
May 13, 1787 - Philadelphia - Washington arrives in Philadelphia. Benjamin Franklin opens his new dining room along with a cask of dark beer to entertain him
May 25, 1787 - Philadelphia - Franklin misses the first day of the Convention due to kidney stones. He asks other delegate to nominate Washington
May 28, 1787 - Philadelphia - Franklin arrives to take his seat at the Convention
June 11, 1787 - Philadelphia - Franklin writes a speech to ask for compromise from all sides of the heated debate
July 16, 1787 - Philadelphia - Franklin's measures of compromise are voted and adopted
October 31, 1787 - Philadelphia - Reelected to President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania
April 1(?), 1788 - Philadelphia - Franklin donates money for the new Synanogue of the Congregation Mikveh Israel
July 4, 1788 - Philadelphia - 4th of July celebrations with Franklin sick in bed
July 17, 1788 - Philadelphia - Last Will and Testament: leaves the bulk of his estate to his daughter Sarah and her family; makes smaller bequests to grandsons William Temple Franklin and Benjamin Bache. Citing "the part he acted against me in the late war," Franklin leaves son William almost nothing
August 1(?), 1788 - Philadelphia - Resumes work on his autobiography
February 12, 1789 - Philadelphia - Franklin presents a formal Abolition petition to Congress
May 1(?), 1789 - Philadelphia - Franklin finishes his autobiography
October 26, 1789 - Philadelphia - Publication of "A Plan for improving the condition of the Free Blacks"
November 9, 1789 - Philadelphia - Publication of "An Address to the Public"
November 13, 1789 - Philadelphia - Famous letter to Jean Baptiste Le Roy: "In this World, nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes"
March 9, 1790 - Philadelphia - Letter to Ezra Stiles, president of Yale University: "Here is my Creed: I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe. That He governs it by his Providence. That he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable Service we can render to him, is doing Good to his other Children…. I think the System of Morals [devised by Jesus] and his Religion as he left them to us, the best the World ever saw, or is likely to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupting Changes, and I have with most of the present Dissenters in England, some Doubts as to his Divinity."
March 23, 1790 - Philadelphia - Publication of "Sidi Mehemet Ibrahim on the Slave Trade" in the "Federal Gazette"
April 7, 1790 - Philadelphia - Thomas Jefferson visits the bedridden Franklin
April 17, 1790 - Philadelphia - Benjamin Franklin dies, aged 84 =(END)
Bibliography
ISAACSON, Walter - "Benjamin Franklin, an american Life", Simon & Schuster
No comments:
Post a Comment