# Benjamin Franklin's greatest inventions and innovations

The lightning rod, bifocals, the Franklin stove and the glass armonica, but also America's first lending library, its first volunteer fire company and the words "positive" and "negative" for electricity: what Benjamin Franklin gave the world. Which is the most useful?

- 66 votes · 16 items
- Mar 1, 2024 · msfieldnotes
- https://even.best/en/l/3914/benjamin-franklin-s-greatest-inventions-and-innovations

## Top 16

1. **Swim fins (1717)** (7 · ▲7 ▼0) — He invented them as a boy, to swim faster.
2. **The extension arm (1784)** (6 · ▲6 ▼0) — A pole with a grip to reach books on high shelves.
3. **The Franklin stove** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — Heated homes better and with less smoke.
4. **The lightning rod** (4 · ▲5 ▼1) — An iron rod that carries a lightning strike safely to the ground.
5. **The glass armonica (1762)** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — A musical instrument of spinning glass bowls; Mozart wrote for it.
6. **The Library Company of Philadelphia (1731)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — America's first circulating library.
7. **The Union Fire Company (1736)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — America's first volunteer fire company.
8. **"Positive" and "negative" (1747)** (2 · ▲4 ▼2) — He was the first to use these terms for electric charge.
9. **Bifocals (1784)** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — Tired of swapping glasses, he split the lenses in two: far above, near below.
10. **Improved street lamps (1751)** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — Brighter and easier to clean.
11. **A 24-hour clock (1757)** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — A simple three-wheel design.
12. **The flexible catheter (1752)** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — Made for his brother, who suffered from kidney stones.
13. **Proving lightning is electricity (1752)** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — The famous experiment with the kite in the storm.
14. **America's first political cartoon (1747)** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — He drew it to rally Pennsylvanians to defend themselves.
15. **Charting the Gulf Stream (1768)** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — He mapped the ocean current on his Atlantic crossings.
16. **The Philadelphia Contributionship (1752)** (0 · ▲2 ▼2) — America's first mutual insurance company.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.