Benjamin Franklin's Inventions Still in Use Today

Some inventions become so commonplace that people forget the innovator who created them. This is the case with Benjamin Franklin. He was extremely curious, always asking more questions than anyone could answer. He wanted to know the how and the why of the most confusing and common phenomena. Today, we still find many uses for Franklin's inventions and discoveries.

Franklin is known as one of the most practical inventors in history (PBS). He studied and conducted research in physics, meteorology, natural history, geology, chemistry, mechanics, agriculture, medicine, and mathematics. Some of his inventions, such as bifocal glasses, are well-known, but many others are less familiar. Of the numerous inventions Franklin created, he did not patent a single one. Franklin believed that "as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously" (van Doren 242).

Franklin loved the water and swimming. Growing up in Boston, he often dreamed of becoming a sailor. Wanting to increase his speed in the water, he devised swim fins — or what he called "pallets" — for his hands. He explains in one of his personal letters:

"When I was a boy, I made two oval palettes, each about ten inches long, and six broad, with a hole for the thumb, in order to retain it fast in the palm of my hand. They much resembled a painter's palettes. In swimming I pushed the edges of these forward, and I struck the water with their flat surfaces as I drew them back. I remember I swam faster by means of these pallets, but they fatigued my wrists" (Goodman 46).

He also tried attaching sandals to the soles of his feet, but he was not satisfied with the results.

Now, especially with rising fuel prices, many people are turning to woodstoves to heat their homes. Many are buying Franklin stoves without giving a second thought to the fact that these are actually "Ben Franklin" stoves. In 1742, Franklin set out to build a small stove that would use less wood and deliver more heat. He modified and built a stove that he claimed would be more efficient, marketing it with pamphlets that described the many advantages of the "Pennsylvania Fireplace." He wrote that "you do not lose the pleasing sight nor use of the fire, as in the Dutch stoves, but may boil the tea-kettle, warm the flat irons, heat heaters, keep warm a dish of victuals by setting it on the top" (Franklin 116).

Franklin also thought a great deal about chimney construction. In a paper addressed to Jan Ingenhousz on August 28, 1785, he answered the question: "What is it then which makes a 'smoky chimney'; that is, a chimney which, instead of conveying up all the smoke, discharges a part of it into the room, offending the eyes and damaging the furniture?" In this analysis, titled "The Causes and Cure of Smoky Chimneys," nine causes are discussed and remedies offered (Franklin 116).

The lightning rod is one of Franklin's best-known inventions. Before his invention, lightning destroyed or damaged many buildings. Drawing on his understanding of electricity, Franklin designed a metal rod attached to the highest point of a building. A metal wire or cable ran from the rod down the side of the building and into the ground. When lightning struck, the electricity followed the cable into the ground, preventing damage to the structure. Franklin conceived of the lightning rod in 1750, but it was three more years before he perfected it (Bell 10). Franklin believed the lightning rod was his most important invention, and it has surely saved many buildings and lives since then.