In 1706 Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, and although he was a voracious reader, he had to quit school at age 10 to apprentice in his brother's print shop.  At age 17 he ran away to Philadelphia to work in a print shop there.  In his free time he studied politics, literature, philosophy and music.  His quest for efficiency led to inventions such as bi-focal lenses, swim fins, the odometer and the lightning rod.  His experiments led him to conclude that lightning was electric in nature, and that light is a wave.  He helped create the US Declaration of Independence and co-signed the US constitution. He believed that freedom of thought was basic to wisdom and freedom of speech was the “right of every man”.