Benjamin Franklin

Franklin established the Union Fire Company in Philadelphia in 1736, creating a volunteer firefighting organization.

Dalibard used a 40-foot iron rod at Marly-la-Ville to extract electrical sparks from a cloud in May 1752.

Colonial representatives gathered in Albany to plan defense during the French and Indian War.

No arrests occurred because of local sympathy, and despite a reward, no Paxton Boy was ever punished; Franklin's Narrative denounced the massacre.

About fifty Paxton Boys attacked Conestoga Town at daybreak on December 14, 1763, killing and scalping six Conestoga and burning the buildings.

On December 27, 1763, led by Smith and Stewart, the Paxton Boys broke into the Lancaster workhouse and killed, scalped, and dismembered the fourteen surviving Conestoga.

Lindsey resigned his vicarage in late 1773 and published a Unitarian prayer book in 1774, breaking from Church of England vows.

Lindsey preached to two hundred attendees, including Benjamin Franklin, at the first Unitarian service in England on 17 April 1774.

Paine left England in October 1774 with Franklin's support.

Paine arrived in Philadelphia on November 30, 1774.

Lord Howe had informally discussed colonial grievances with Benjamin Franklin in 1774 and 1775 without resolution.

British authorities resolved in late 1775 and early 1776 to send a large military expedition to occupy New York City.

Washington learned from Patterson on July 20 that the Howes' powers were limited to pardons, which the Americans rejected as unnecessary.

British forces occupied western Long Island on August 27, 1776, compelling Washington to withdraw the Continental Army to Manhattan.

British and American representatives met informally at Billop Manor on Staten Island on September 11, 1776, hoping to end the war.

The Americans required British recognition of the July 4 Declaration of Independence; Howe could view the delegates only as British subjects.

The next major British peace effort came in 1778, when the Carlisle Peace Commission was sent to British-occupied Philadelphia.

On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress passed the Lee Resolution, asserting the colonies were free and independent states.

On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence at the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia.

On July 8, 1776, at noon, the Declaration was read publicly at three designated locations: Trenton, Easton, and Philadelphia.

The Second Continental Congress appointed a five-member committee on June 11, 1776, to draft a declaration of independence.

In November 1777 Adams learned he was named commissioner to France, joining Franklin and Arthur Lee in Paris.

In the meantime, Adams thwarted an attempt by neutral European powers to mediate the war without consulting the United States.

Adams pursued loans and recognition in the Dutch Republic, presenting credentials at The Hague in April 1781 and returning in January 1782.

Adams collaborated with Franklin, Jay, Jefferson, and Laurens in negotiations; the treaty was signed September 3, 1783, recognizing independence.

American commissioners and a French envoy signed both treaties in Paris on February 6, 1778, formalizing a defensive alliance and commercial relations.

The defensive alliance guaranteed French military support if commercial and diplomatic ties provoked hostilities with Britain, and allowed Spain to join.

The Treaty of Amity and Commerce established diplomatic and commercial relations, with France the first nation to formally recognize U.S. sovereignty.

France informed Britain of the treaties on March 13, 1778; Britain declared war four days later, bringing France into the American Revolutionary War.

Congress received the signed text on May 2, 1778, ratified it unanimously on May 4, and France ratified on July 16, 1778.

Thomas Willing became the bank's first president, serving 1781–1791, while Benjamin Franklin bought a single token share in a gesture of good faith.

Robert Morris presented a banking plan in May 1781, drawing on Hamilton's recommendations, and Congress chartered the bank on May 26, 1781.

The Bank of North America opened in Philadelphia on January 7, 1782, as the first chartered bank in the United States.

By 1783 several states, including Massachusetts, allowed taxes to be paid in bank notes; postwar economic turmoil later prompted petitions to revoke the Pennsylvania charter.

American and British representatives drafted a provisional treaty on November 30, 1782, after months of negotiation in Paris.

The Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783, at the Hôtel d'York in Paris by Adams, Franklin, Jay, and Hartley.

The Congress of the Confederation ratified the treaty on January 14, 1784; Britain ratified on April 9, 1784, with exchange in Paris on May 12, 1784.

Following the Yorktown defeat and the fall of North's government, peace negotiations began in Paris in April 1782.

In September 1782, Vergennes proposed a solution to the deadlocked US-British negotiations, which the United States rejected.

On November 30, 1782, American and British representatives signed preliminary peace articles in Paris, acknowledging US independence.

Congress endorsed the preliminary settlement on April 15, 1783, and ratified the Treaty of Paris on January 14, 1784, in Annapolis.

The definitive Treaty of Paris was signed at the Hôtel d'York in Paris on September 3, 1783, by Adams, Franklin, Jay, and Hartley.

Negotiations began in Paris in April 1782 after North's government fell following Yorktown, continuing through the summer.

The treaty was drafted on November 30, 1782, with Shelburne seeking to separate the United States from France.

Great Britain signed separate agreements with France and Spain; the last two Peace of Paris treaties were signed at the Palace of Versailles in 1783.

On September 3, 1783, Adams, Franklin, Jay, and Hartley signed the treaty at the Hôtel d'York in Paris, ending the war.

The Dutch treaty was not finalized until 1784, when captured East Indies possessions were returned for trading privileges; a hoped-for commercial treaty with Britain failed to materialize.

The Congress of the Confederation ratified the treaty on January 14, 1784; Britain ratified on April 9, and copies were exchanged in Paris on May 12, 1784.

Charles and the Robert brothers launched the world's first hydrogen balloon from the Champ de Mars on 27 August 1783.

The United States and Sweden signed their treaty of amity and commerce in Paris on April 3, 1783, during the Revolutionary War.

Franklin returned home in 1785, holding a position second only to George Washington as a champion of American independence.

Franklin was elected the sixth president of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania on October 18, 1785, replacing John Dickinson.

Work on a hull began in 1785 in Bath by Joseph Barnes, Rumsey's assistant; the source does not label the vessel a steamboat.

In July 1785, Washington recommended Rumsey as superintendent of the Patowmack Company to oversee rock clearing.