The Benjamin Franklin Quiz

Where was Benjamin Franklin born?

London

Boston

Franklin was born in Boston in 1706.

Philadelphia

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Was Franklin ever president of the United States?

yes

no

People often assume that Franklin was one of the early presidents. Understandable, because he did just about everything else, but he was never president.

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What was his father's occupation?

butcher

baker

candle maker

Josiah Franklin was a soap and candle maker.

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How many siblings did he have?

3

11

16

Franklin was the 15th of his father's 17 kids (with two wives).

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How many years of formal education did Franklin complete?

2

Franklin was sent to school when he was 8 and pulled out when he was 10.

5

7

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What was Franklin's worst subject in his brief stint at school?

arithmetic

A brilliant mathematician in later years, Franklin actually failed math twice.

spelling

science

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What did Franklin want to be when he grew up?

soldier

sailor

Young Ben had dreams of being a sailor like one of his brothers, but his father wouldn't hear of it.

spy

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At the age of 12, Franklin was apprenticed to his brother in what kind of shop?

printing

He went to work as a typesetter at his brother's newspaper, the New England Courant.

blacksmithing

carpentry

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While working for his brother, Franklin secretly wrote letters to the newspaper under this name.

Charity Loveness

Silence Dogood

A teenage Franklin took on the persona of a widow named Silence Dogood and wrote 14 letters to the paper, which turned out to be wildly popular.

Cassandra Jones

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Where did Franklin go when he quit the print shop?

New York

Philadelphia

James wasn't too happy when he found out who Silence Dogood was, so Ben took off and escaped to Philadelphia.

Williamsburg

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What was the name of the newspaper that Franklin ran in Philadelphia?

Philadelphia Inquirer

Pennsylvania Gazette

Franklin didn't found the Gazette, but he and a partner bought it in 1729 and made it the most successful paper in the colonies.

Colonial Courant

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In 1737, the Pennsylvania Gazette published Franklin's list of more than 200 synonyms for this word.

"drunk"

"The Drinkers Dictionary" listed synonyms for "drunk" -- like "crack'd," "glaiz'd" and "pidgeon ey'd."

"vomit"

"toilet"

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Did Franklin own slaves?

yes

Franklin owned two slaves, George and King, who worked in his house. But he eventually freed them and became an abolitionist.

no

It's uncertain.

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Which of these terms did Franklin NOT coin?

battery

telephone

Franklin came up with many electricity-related terms, but telephone wasn't one of them.

electricity

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Franklin devised a new phonetic alphabet that would do away with the letters C, J, W, Y, Q and __.

Z

K

X

Franklin considered C, J, W, Y, Q and X to be redundant letters.

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For how many years of his life did Franklin live overseas?

9

16

27

Franklin lived in London and Paris for a total of 27 years, crossing the Atlantic 20 times.

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What discovery did Franklin make that cut two weeks off travel time across the Atlantic?

the Gulf Stream

Franklin studied the currents on his many trips across the ocean. He noticed the warm current flowing like "a river in the ocean" and realized that ships traveling to Europe could go much faster if they followed it.

El Nino

the trade winds

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Which bird did Franklin argue might be a better national symbol than the eagle?

turkey

In a letter to his daughter, Franklin wrote, "I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen as the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character…. the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird."

robin

hawk

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In 1775, Franklin became the first person to hold this position in the United States.

attorney general

postmaster general

Franklin was made the first postmaster general of the United States.

surgeon general

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What was the name of the philosophical club that Franklin started in Philadelphia?

Junto

Junto was a group of men from all different occupations that met on Friday nights.

Paraiso

Leptero

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In 1747, Franklin anonymously wrote a fictional story about this woman, who was prosecuted for having a child out of wedlock.

Sally Richmond

Prudence Jones

Polly Baker

"The Speech of Polly Baker" was an indictment of the judicial system, which persecuted unwed mothers but not men.

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Franklin had quite a fondness for pseudonyms. What was another?

Richard Saunders

The character of Richard Saunders was the namesake of "Poor Richard's Almanack," which Franklin published for 25 years.

Chastity Swift

Jonathan Moore

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Most of Franklin's famous sayings were first published in the almanac. This was NOT one of them.

"He that lies down with dogs will rise up with fleas."

"Love your neighbor, but don't pull down the hedge."

"United we stand, divided we fall."

"United we stand" does apply to the situation, but that's actually Aesop, not Franklin.

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Bach and Beethoven composed pieces on this now-obscure instrument that Franklin invented.

euphonium

chordophone

glass armonica

The glass armonica is long out of vogue, but Franklin was very proud of it.

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Franklin was an unlikely trendsetter when he moved to Paris toward the end of his life. What was one item that he made fashionable?

brocade vest

fur hat

The French were ga-ga for the elderly Franklin's fur hats.

heeled shoes

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In 1783, Franklin negotiated this treaty, which ended the Revolution.

Treaty of Paris

Franklin, John Adams, John Jay and Henry Laurens represented the United States in the Treaty of Paris negotiations.

Treaty of Versailles

Treaty of Vincennes

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Franklin's son William was the governor of this state.

Pennsylvania

New York

New Jersey

Franklin himself had an illegitimate son, William, who was the last colonial governor of New Jersey.

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At what age did Franklin become a self-proclaimed "gentleman of leisure?"

36

42

By 42, Franklin had made enough money to retire, and he literally printed all of the money for Pennsylvania and Delaware. Of course, he did more in "retirement" than 99.9 percent of other people.

48

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