Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts to an American mother, Abiah Folger and a British father, Josiah in 1706. Considered the father of electricity, through his inventions, writings, and extensive activities as a printer, philosopher and more, Franklin helped advance the Age of Enlightenment.

As a key founder of the United States, he is the only statesman to have signed all four documents that created a new nation: The Declaration of Independence (1776), the Treaty of Alliance with France (1778), the Treaty of Paris establishing peace with Britain (1783) and The Constitution (1787).