Dan has delighted many with his authentic costume from Benjamin Franklin's era.
Come and enjoy tales from the past of one of America's Great.
Photos below of happening after the show.

President Barbara Wilson,  & Mr. and Mrs. Les Blalock with Dan Kalenak at the book signing after the meeting.  Mrs Kalenak to the right.

Dan Kalenak delighted the audience with a wide variety of data with his presentation of Ben Franklin.

Dan Kalenak delighted the young as well as Mom and Dad at the meeting.

Benjamin Franklin was arguably one of the world’s geniuses. From an early age, this uncommon commoner knew he was made for greater things. He left his home in Boston and traveled to Philadelphia where he grew into a scientist, inventor, statesman, musician, world traveler, and rock star.

Yep, rock star. Like today’s rock stars, people the world over knew Franklin’s face, his words, and his works. Celebrated everywhere for his contributions to a number of disciplines, Franklin still captures our imaginations and our psyches.

Benjamin Franklin (January 17 [O.S. January 6] 1706 – April 17, 1790) was one of the best-known Founding Fathers of the United States. He was a leading author, politician, printer, scientist, philosopher, publisher, inventor, civic activist, and diplomat. As a scientist he was a major figure in the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity. As a political writer and activist he, more than anyone, invented the idea of an American nation^[1], and as a diplomat during the American Revolution, he secured the French alliance that helped to make independence possible.

Franklin was noted for his curiosity, his writings (popular, political and scientific), and his diversity of interests. As a leader of the Enlightenment, he gained the recognition of scientists and intellectuals across Europe. An agent in London before the Revolution, and Minister to France during it, he more than anyone defined the new nation in the minds of Europe. His success in securing French military and financial aid was a great contributor to the American victory over Britain. He invented the lightning rod; he was an early proponent of colonial unity; historians hail him as the "First American."

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Franklin learned printing from his older brother and became a newspaper editor, printer, and merchant in Philadelphia, becoming very wealthy. He spent many years in England and published the famous Poor Richard's Almanac and the Pennsylvania Gazette. He formed both the first public lending library and fire department in America as well as the Junto, a political discussion club. During this period he wrote in favor of paper money, against mercantilist policies such as the Iron Act of 1750, and also drafted, in 1754, the Albany Plan of Union, which would have created a continental legislature; demonstrating how early he conceived of the colonies as being naturally one political unit.

Franklin became a national hero in America when he spearheaded the effort to have Parliament repeal the unpopular Stamp Act. An accomplished diplomat, he was widely admired among the French as American minister to Paris, and was a major figure in the development of positive Franco-American relations. From 1775 to 1776, Franklin was Postmaster General under the Continental Congress and from 1785 to his death in 1790 was President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania. Toward the end of his life, he became one of the most prominent abolitionists.

Franklin was interested in science and technology, carrying out his famous electricity experiments and inventing, in addition to his very important lightning rod, the Franklin stove, catheter, swimfins, glass harmonica, and bifocals. He also played a major role in establishing the University of Pennsylvania and Franklin and Marshall College. He was elected the first president of the American Philosophical Society, the oldest learned society in the United States, in 1769. Franklin was fluent in five languages. He is typically recognized as a polymath.

courtesy:
Benjamin Franklin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1758 Poor Richard's Almanac Quotes

Meeting at:
Lincoln Tower Ballroom
7:00 P.M.