189 Quiz Answer

Answer: The noted polymath, Benjamin Franklin, was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. 

(Also for Three Word Wednesday and ABC Wednesday: "M" is for "Master")

Speaking of clocks, and time, let me tell you about a couple of kids I find fascinating.

Meet Benny and Jenny, a brother and sister combo who lived quite a while back in time – two centuries or more in fact – and whose existence illustrates vividly what lives were like in those old days.

First, the boy.  As a kid he had a pretty dreadful time.  One of 17 – that’s seventeen – children (he was the youngest), he had to drop out of school at the age of ten and go to work.

But if he had it rough, consider his sister.   Girls then often didn’t receive much of an education; they had a different function.  They were supposed to have babies.  Sis complied; she got married and had twelve children.  She never got to do much of anything but take care of her kids.  After that she took care of her grandchildren and then of her great-grandchildren.  That was her life.

As for her brother, he handled the fact that he had little education neatly; he educated himself.  And he became a polymath.  That, by the way, is not a parrot that can add and subtract, it’s a guy who sustains mastery of a number of subjects.

He and his sister loved each other and wrote regularly over a period of many years.  Some say she was the only person he ever really did love.

As the word “master” suggests, he hastily went on to compile quite a resume.  He was a musician (who invented new musical instruments).

He wrote a regular column in a newspaper at a time when there weren’t many columns – or, as far as that goes, many newspapers.  He was a politician, an inventor and satirist.  As a scientist, he was a major figure in the history of physics for his discoveries regarding electricity.  He served his country as a diplomat.

He kept, in other words, fairly busy.

He was known for his many “sayings,” inspirational and motivational quotes about everything in life.  One I like very much could serve as a motto for us, today’s bloggers: “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” J

That's his bio.  What’s his name?

(Also submitted to Sunday Scribblings)