Benjamin Franklin
American printer and statesman who wrote Poor Richard's Almanack and helped found the United States Show bio
Bio
Benjamin Franklin left school at ten and learned printing from his older brother in Boston. He wrote to his brother's newspaper as a made-up widow, and her letters became town gossip.
He ran away to Philadelphia at seventeen and later set up his own printing house. Franklin grew rich from his newspaper and from Poor Richard's Almanack, written under a pen name. He owned at least seven slaves, then went on to become an active abolitionist.
He later won French support for the American Revolution as the first U.S. ambassador to France. Franklin still signed letters "B. Franklin, Printer" long after science and statecraft made him famous.