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Some of our finest [ about ] Approved Articles Developed Articles (over 700) Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.    —Often attributed to the Dalai Lama Draft of the Week [ about ] Portrait of Benjamin Franklin (circa 1785) by Joseph Siffred Duplessis Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), known as "the First American", was an American statesman whose efforts were critical to the success of the American Revolution and the unification of the 13 colonies into a new nation. Serving as the American minister to France, he secured decisive military and financial support during the Revolution, while asserting the values of democracy and republicanism. He assisted Thomas Jefferson in writing the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and helped legitimize the U.S. Constitution in 1787. His effective diplomacy, creative nationalism, promotion of civic virtue and devotion to republicanism earned him high rank as a Founding Father. Franklin was also a world class scientist during the Enlightenment, famed for his discoveries in electricity and his invention of the lightning rod. He was also a noted printer and civic leader in Philadelphia. [more...] New Draft of the Week [ about ] PD Image Colonel Benjamin Thompson, FRS, in British army uniform. Painting by Thomas Gainsborough 1783 Count Rumford (born Benjamin Thompson, 1753–1814) was an American born soldier, statesman, scientist, inventor and social reformer. He is most famous for his scientific work, publishing over seventy papers mostly related to light, heat, food, and cooking. During his time in the military, his work with cannons led him to discover that friction can generate an inexhaustible amount of heat, which challenged the caloric theory that regarded heat as a substance. Thompson's other career achievements include attaining the rank of colonel in the British army, being elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in England in 1779, being knighted by King George III in 1781, and being ennobled to Count of the Holy Roman Empire by the Duke of Bavaria in 1792. [more...]