Believe it or not, Ben Franklin was the one to invent the modern day "swimming flippers" that people use when they scuba dive. As a devoted swimmer, when he was just 11 years old he decided to make something that would give him more power underwater.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ben also invented the odometer. This was actually done coincidently. When he was given the task of finding a quicker way to get mail from one place to another, he set out right away. He attached a device to the steering wheel of his station wagon, and transformed it to track the number of miles he would travel between each post office. Then, he found out that he could track the distance of a trip when he used the device.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When America was under attack of the French in the mid-18th century, Franklin made the "Join, or Die" drawing in his article in "The Pennsylvania Gazette." The eight pieces of a snake displayed the parts working together, and represented the eight colonies. It was meant to show that the colonies needed to work together if anyone ever wanted to defeat the French. It helped people realize that America had to work together as a new country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Franklin's day, many people used fireplaces to restore heat in their chilly winter homes. But, this heat source was highly inefficient. It consumed way to much fuel, fire often shot out from it, as well as the fact that most of the heat went up the chimney instaed of inside the homes. So, Ben invented the "Franklin stove," a stove that heated all the parts of a house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Ben got older, he found that he had lost a lot of his eyesight, and he found it annoying to have to keep switching out his far-sight glasses for his near-sight glasses. So, he simply cut both in half, and put them in the same frame, so he would just look at one half far-sight, and another half for near-sight.