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Did Benjamin Franklin actually fly a kite in a thunderstorm?
VERDICTDISPUTED
Probably, though the evidence is thin. Franklin’s October 1752 account in the Pennsylvania Gazette describes the experiment without saying he did it. Joseph Priestley wrote in 1767 that Franklin flew it in June 1752 with only his son William. The editors of Franklin’s papers accept that date; some writers, from Carl Van Doren on, have called the episode dim or doubtful.
The receipts
- The Kite Experiment, 19 October 1752, Founders Online, National Archives
- Benjamin Franklin’s Kite Experiment: What Do We Know?, History.com
The comedy version
The untold story of Benjamin Franklin, who won the Revolution with an essay about wind.
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