Benjamin Franklin

The greatest American that has ever lived.

Freemason.
Quite the ladies' man.
Ran a paper mill that fed on cannabis. A move necessary to reduce the colonial dependence on British paper.
Owned two slaves, which he eventually freed.
Believed that the dead could be brought back to life.
"[Our constitution] will fail, as all such constitutions have in the past, because of the essential corruption of the people. He pointed his finger at all the American people. And when the people become so corrupt, he said, we will find it is not a republic that they want but rather despotism—the only form of government suitable for such a people." Gore Vidal, quoting Franklin.

Timeline

`17 Jan 1706`	Benjamin Franklin born, Boston MA.
`Apr 1773`	"I wish it were possible, from this instance, to invent a method of embalming drowned persons, in such a manner that they might be recalled to life at any period, however distant; for having very ardent desire to see and observe the state of America a hundred years hence, I should prefer to an ordinary death, being immersed with a few friends in a cask of Madeira, until that time, then to be recalled to life by the solar warmth of my dear country." Letter to Jacques Barbeu Dubourg.
`17 Apr 1790`	Benjamin Franklin dies.
`1939`	Ben and Me, by Robert Lawson.