Glass harmonica and other things that US politician Benjamin Franklin invented
The role of Benjamin Franklin in the history of American politics doesn’t need to be reiterated. Often regarded as the Founding Father of the USA, he was the drafter and signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as well as the first US Postmaster General too. A politician, diplomat and writer-philosopher, Franklin was an inventor too. Surprised? Here is the list of things he invented, starting from a fireplace to rocking chair.
Franklin Stove
It is a metal-lined fireplace that Benjamin Franklin built and named after himself in the year 1742. He specially designed this stove to reduce smoke emission and generate more heat, something that was reverse in an ordinary open fireplace in those days. Also known as circulating stove, it had a custom-made hollow baffle near its rear to enable better transfer of heat from the fireplace to the room. In addition, it also had an inverted suction system that helped draw the fire’s hot fumes around the baffle. The stove earned the nickname of Pennsylvania fireplace as it was distributed free of cost around Pennsylvania, the hometown of Franklin. However, the Franklin Stove became popular posthumously when another American inventor David Rittenhouse improved upon it.
Glass harmonica
This musical instrument was made using a series of glass bowls or goblets arranged in the order of size (small to big) to generate musical notes by means of friction. Franklin invented this huge musical instrument in 1761 and based it upon idiophone, a kind of glass device that produced sound by either rubbing the glass discs against one another or with a non-musical object. Franklin fondly named his invention as “armonica.”
Postal odometer
Odometers have existed since the ancient time and can be traced back to China during the Han Dynasty. In fact, most people believe it was pioneered by Chinese inventor Zhang Heng in 1st century AD. It is an instrument meant to attach to the wheel of a vehicle in order to measure the distance travelled. While many inventors modified on the idea throughout history, it was Franklin, who, in 1775, built a prototype of an odometer suitable to US Postal Service. He used it to attach to postal carriages to help calculate the mileage of postal routes. His goal was simple, to save valuable man hours by finding the shortest routes.
Rocking chair
Around the mid-18th Franklin improvised on an ordinary chair by attaching a wooden rocker to it. This allowed him to move back and forth in his chair gently. He drew his inspiration from rocking cradles. Interestingly, around the same time, Franklin also innovated a writing chair. It was a chair with an arm on one side meant to be used as a writing desk.