Benjamin Franklin

At seventeen, Benjamin Franklin ran away from his brother's print shop with nothing. By forty-two, he had made enough money from his printing business and Poor Richard's Almanack to retire and devote himself to science and public service. He proved that lightning was electricity by flying a kite in a thunderstorm, then invented the lightning rod to protect buildings. He founded America's first lending library, first volunteer fire company, first public hospital, and first secular university. He invented bifocal glasses, the Franklin stove, and the flexible urinary catheter. At seventy, he helped draft the Declaration of Independence; at eighty-one, the Constitution. Along the way, he served as America's ambassador to France, charming Parisian salons while securing the alliance that won the Revolutionary War.