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Mischa P.



Benjamin Franklin the Printer

====Benjamin or Ben Franklin was born on January 17th 1706, in Boston, Massachusetts. Ben’s Family was very large. He was the 15th born out of 17. His parents were named Josiah and Abiah Franklin. In the 18th century it was up to a boy's father to decide what he did for a living. Benjamin's father first thought he should be a preacher and sent him to school. But school was expensive and would take many years. So his father took him out of school after only two years and he put 10-year-old Benjamin to work at the family business, making soap and candles. What Benjamin really wanted was to go to sea. He was an excellent swimmer, loved the ocean, and dreamed of working on a ship. His father would not allow it because one of his older brothers died at sea. When another brother, James, returned from England to set up a printing business, their father knew what to do. Benjamin loved to read, so why not become a printer?====

====His father convinced Benjamin to become his brother's apprentice. Ben was his brothers apprentice for nine years. He started when he was 12 until he was 21 years old. Benjamin wanted to write for the paper too, but he knew that James would never let him. After all, Benjamin was just an apprentice. So Ben began writing letters at night and signing them with the name Silence Dogood. Ben would sneak the letters under the print shop door at night so no one knew who was writing the pieces. They were a hit, and everyone wanted to know who was the real "Silence Dogood."====

====After 16 letters, Ben confessed that he had been writing the letters all along. While James's friends thought Ben was quite funny, James scolded his brother and was very jealous of the attention paid to him. Before long the Franklins found themselves at odds with Boston's powerful Puritan preachers, the Mathers. Smallpox was a deadly disease in those times, and the Mathers supported the vaccine, the Franklins' believed the vaccine only made people sicker. And while most Bostonians agreed with the Franklins, they did not like the way James made fun of the preachers, during the debate. Ultimately, James was thrown in jail for his views, and Benjamin was left to run the paper for several issues.====

====Upon release from jail, James was not grateful to Ben for keeping the paper going. Instead he kept harassing his younger brother and administering beatings from time to time. Ben could not take it and decided to run away to Philadelphia in 1723. He met Debby in 1730 and they get married and have a son named William. Later in 1732 Ben published Poor Richard’s Almanac.====

====Ben has accomplished many thing that have impacted the world today. He helped write the Constitution of Independence, United States Constitution and more. He was a self learner, inventor, and a diplomat. If you were wondering "How did Ben Print?" then this is for you. The composer lays the type out on a composing stick, then places it in a frame called a galley. The galleys are given to the stoneman, who combines them tightly together on a form. The form is given to the pressman, who sets it on the stone. Then ink is beaten onto the type with mallets. Wet paper is places on the tympan, secured by the frisked, and folded over the inked type. The stone is then rolled under the platen, where a pressman pulls down a lever and the type is pressed onto the paper. Saddled Ben died on April 17, 1790 at the age of 84.====

Sourc es

Encyclopedia - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin#Newspaperman

Internet - http://www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/franklinb/aa_franklinb_printer_1.html http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/info

Book - //__Who Was Ben Franklin__// By: Dennis Brindell Fradin //__A Picture Book of Benjamin Franklin__// By: David A. Adler

Giovanni da Verrazano



http://exchange.smarttech.com/details.html?id=ba92eb80-04a2-4ed1-9d40-364b3a193078 http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/indexv.shtml

Giovanni da Verrazzano was born in 1485 in Chianti, Italy.He sailed to America looking in search for the Northwest Passage with Girolamo in 1524. He sailed up the coast of North America from what is now known as North Carolina to Nova Scotia. Giovanni da Verrazzano may have sailed a little North on the Hudson River. It looked like a storm was approaching so he left the river. One of the first maps were made from one of his drawing from the voyage. While sailing south of Jamaica in 1528, the crew spotted a highly vegetated and Verrazzano dropped the anchor to explore it with some of the crewmen. The group was soon attacked by a large gathering of cannibalistic natives who killed them and ate them all and Girolamo and the rest of the crew watched from the main ship, unable to help. Giovanni da Verrazzano added greatly to the knowledge of mapmakers in geography of the East Coast of North America.

http://www.biography.com/people/giovanni-da-verrazzano-9517737 http://www.britannica.com/biography/Giovanni-da-Verrazzano http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/indexv.shtml