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When I was a boy my family had a Time-Life book on the mind which featured a chart of the presumed IQs of famous dead men. Goethe, as I recall, led the pack, at 210. But the Founding Fathers did very well: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington all scored over 150. As the Fourth of July approaches, we'd do well to remember that the Founders were a smart lot, with few gentleman's C's among them. Yet they didn't know everything. They were strongest in law, political philosophy and history--all essential subjects for revolutionaries and statesmen. But another subject,...

Most famous today as a founding father, inventor and diplomat, Franklin also commanded troops during the French and Indian War Weapons ready, slogging into the deserted village, the men and their commander were appalled at what they saw: dead soldiers and civilians and evidence of a hasty retreat. The commander ordered quick fortifications against further attack, then burial parties. The orders came from an unlikely figure: Benjamin Franklin, 50 years old, already rich, retired from his printing business and notably famous for his inventions. He had received the Copley Medal from the Royal Society of London in 1753 for his...

"Resolved, That Dr. Franklin, Mr. J. Adams and Mr. Jefferson, be a committee, to bring in a device for a seal for the United States of America." – July 4, 1776, Journals of Continental Congress For the design team, Congress chose three of the five men who were on the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence. Although these distinguished committee members were among the ablest minds in the new nation, they had little knowledge of heraldry. To help convey their vision, they chose the artist Pierre Eugène Du Simitière to work with them.

From 'The Economist' print edition Attitudes towards redistribution have a strong cultural component ARGUMENTS over economic policy are often heated. Debates about the extent to which tax and welfare policy should redistribute wealth from rich to poor tend to be particularly fractious. Understanding why people hold different opinions on the topic interests economists, not least because citizens’ attitudes towards such matters are likely to influence the governments they elect. Some of the evidence from individual countries conforms to standard economic reasoning. Richer people, who have least to gain from redistribution, are usually less keen on it than their poorer compatriots....

NEW YORK — When members of the local historical society in Berwick found a dusty, long-ignored copy of Benjamin Franklin’s 18th-century “Poor Richard” almanac on their shelves a few months ago, they decided to find out whether it could be real. The answer was yes — emphatically confirmed on Tuesday at the Sotheby’s auction house, where an anonymous bidder paid $556,500 for the 1733 edition, the second highest price ever for a book printed in America. That was big news in Berwick, an old manufacturing city of 10,000 residents, where Franklin, using the pseudonym Richard Saunders, printed thousands of copies...

In honor of Thanksgiving – and the constant stream of complaints wildlife officials get about the wild version of our holiday meal – this little item will be all about how to avoid the big birds from pecking at your heels this holiday season. The good news is that wild turkeys have made a stunning comeback after being wiped out in the state by the mid-1800s from hunting and loss of habitat. Today, there are about 20,000-25,000 birds in Massachusetts. The bad news is that the wild turkeys have moved into Brookline, Newton and other suburbs where they are gaining...

Confessions of a Very Old Man My name is Benjamin. Here I lie in Philadelphia. I caught lightning with a kite. wrote an Almanac. I perfected a postal service. I coaxed a treaty with France. But most important of all, 221 years ago last week I encouraged 39 men To sign a four-page document To give you a republic, If you can keep it. Yes, the 17th of September was the 221st birthday of the Constitution, and I choose to talk about it through the three great contributions that Benjamin Franklin made to that document. Plus, of course, his summary...

Two weeks ago I took a Walk in the Park. It was touching, sad, funny, and educational and the best possible use of two hours of time. The park was a cemetery. It was populated by dead people who talked. This was the ninth year of the Walk in the Park, sponsored by the Highlands Historical Society. Each year the Society chooses seven or so residents of the cemetery, researches their stories, casts the actors and actresses, and invites the public to visit. It is an impressive experience to walk into a cemetery and see men and women, and sometimes...

Some 10,000 US researchers have signed a statement protesting about political interference in the scientific process. The statement, which includes the backing of 52 Nobel Laureates, demands a restoration of scientific integrity in government policy. According to the American Union of Concerned Scientists, data is being misrepresented for political reasons. It claims scientists working for federal agencies have been asked to change data to fit policy initiatives. The Union has released an "A to Z" guide that it says documents dozens of recent allegations involving censorship and political interference in federal science, covering issues ranging from global warming to sex...

As we observe Independence Day, we might do well to turn our thoughts to one of the most fascinating Founders of them all, Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790). This editor-turned-scientist-turned-statesman is a household name for inventing the lightning rod and bifocals; for founding America's first nonsectarian college and its post office; and for using his masterful diplomatic skills to get the French to lend crucial support to the American Revolution. But did you also know that Franklin is the only person to have signed all four of the documents that helped create the United States? He signed the Declaration of Independence (1776);...

PHILADELPHIA — You would not expect to find someone sharing star billing with Benjamin Franklin in this city, especially during the 300th anniversary of his birth. But while everywhere else in town Franklin is being lionized as the printer, scientist and statesman, an exhibition at the American Philosophical Society, which he founded, pairs him with an unlikely contemporary, Ekaterina Dashkova, a Russian princess whom few Americans have ever heard of. A noblewoman who married a prince, a teenage mother and a friend of a monarch, Princess Dashkova seemed to have nothing in common with Franklin, an elderly self-made man of...

January 17th, 2006 marks the 300th birthday of Benjamin Franklin. Since his death 216 years ago many volumes have been written that explore his numerous accomplishments in a wide variety of endeavors. Despite so much time passing, Franklin’s list of achievements and his life’s work still stand tall among the achievements of the many generations of Americans that have followed. More impressive than any one achievement was his versatility. Franklin contributed to many areas of daily 18th century life. If you lived in the colonies during that period, more than likely your home was heated by a Franklin stove, your...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

Even today, sources on inventions list six by Franklin that are still in active use today. One of those sits in my back hall, cheerfully and economically heating the back of my home – the Franklin stove. Another sits on the bridge of my nose as I write this – a pair of bifocals. But this is about Franklin’s greatest invention, one that the lists never mention because it is mere words, not a physical object. Franklin made seven trips to Europe, as a diplomat and scholar. He was welcomed into all the learned societies that existed in Europe then....

Why is New Orleans in so much worse shape today than New York City was after the attacks on Sept. 11? The short answer is that New York was attacked by fire, not water. But then why are urbanites so much better prepared to cope with fire than with flooding? Mostly because they learned to fight fire without any help from the Army Corps of Engineers or the Federal Emergency Management Agency. For most of history, fire was far more feared than flooding. Cities repeatedly burned to the ground. Those catastrophes occurred sporadically enough that politicians must have been tempted...

July 4th: What is Independence? by Edward Hudgins July 4th is Independence Day. But at our picnics, parties and cookouts we might well ask, “Independence from what?” In 1776 we Americans declared our political independence with Britain. Tired of high taxes and a long train of abuses, and with no democratic controls on those who governed us, we decided it was time for us to run our own affairs. Besides, bowing on our knees before kings and lords was for slaves and serfs, not free men like us. But it was not just our break with Britain but also other...

GENEVA - Most Americans have probably never heard of the World Intellectual Property Organization, headquartered here in Switzerland. Intellectual property is intangible property, such as software or music. Its value is very real. According to a study by Leonard Nakamura, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, the total value of intellectual property in the United States is more than $5 trillion. That's more than a third of the value of the U.S. stock markets. Protected only by copyrights and patents, it is relatively easy to steal or counterfeit. (snip) WIPO and other international bodies are meeting to...

On the Providence of God in the Government of the World When I consider my own Weakness, and the discerning Judgment of those who are to be my Audience, I cannot help blaming my self considerably, for this rash Undertaking of mine, it being a Thing I am altogether ill practis'd in and very much unqualified for; I am especially discouraged when I reflect that you are all my intimate Pot Companions who have heard me say a 1000 silly Things in Conversations, and therefore have not that laudable Partiality and Veneration for whatever I shall deliver that Good People...

"Gettin' chilly down in Philly..." This interactive flash of the Founding Fathers is hilarious! Submitted for your enjoyment... http://www.jibjab.com/32.html

WASHINGTON — On a recent evening, David Barton, a leading conservative Christian advocate for emphasizing religion in American history, stood barefoot on a bench in the rotunda of the United States Capitol Building with a congressman by his side and about a hundred students from Oral Roberts University at his feet. "Isn't it interesting that we have all been trained to recognize the two least religious founding fathers?" Mr. Barton asked, pointing to Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin in a painting on the wall. "And compared to today's secularists these two guys look like a couple of Bible-thumping evangelicals!" Even...