Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Franklin Institute, in Philadelphia; chartered and opened 1824 “for the promotion of the mechanic arts,” the first of its kind in the country. It was named for Benjamin Franklin. Since the 19th ce...

(Encyclopedia) Franklin, Benjamin, 1706–90, American statesman, printer, scientist, and writer, b. Boston. The only American of the colonial period to earn a European reputation as a natural philosopher, he is bes...

(Encyclopedia) Franklin, William, c.1730–1813, last royal governor of New Jersey; illegitimate son of Benjamin Franklin. He grew up in Philadelphia, served in King George's War, and was (1754–56) comptroller of ...

(Encyclopedia) Franklin, Ann Smith, 1696–1763, American printer; sister-in-law of Benjamin Franklin. After the death in 1735 of her husband, James Franklin, she carried on his commercial printing business, in Newp...

(Encyclopedia) Franklin, Sir John, 1786–1847, British explorer in N Canada whose disappearance caused a widespread search of the Arctic. Entering the navy in 1801, he fought in the battle of Trafalgar. On his firs...

(Encyclopedia) Franklin, Aretha, 1942–2018, American singer and pianist, b. Memphis. The daughter of the well-known minister C. L. Franklin, she began singing in the choir of his Detroit Baptist church, where she ...

(Encyclopedia) Franklin Park, village (2020 pop. 18,467), Cook co., NE Ill., a suburb of Chicago; inc. 1892. It is chiefly residential. ...

(Encyclopedia) Franklin, John Hope, 1915–2009, the dean of 20th-century African-American historians, b. Rentiesville, Okla., grad. Fisk Univ. (A.B., 1935), Harvard (M.A., 1936; Ph.D., 1941). Franklin served on the...

(Encyclopedia) Franklin Square, uninc. city (2020 pop. 32,055), Nassau co., SE N.Y., on Long Island. Although it is chiefly residential, there is significant manufactu...

(Encyclopedia) Bache, Benjamin Franklin bāch [key], 1769–98, American journalist, b. Philadelphia; son of Richard Bache and grandson of Benjamin Franklin. In 1790 he founded the Philadelphia General Advertiser (l...