GCL3126743: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1706-1790). American printer, publisher, scientist, inventor, statesman and diplomat. Franklin, assisted by his son William, proving the identity of lightning and electricity by his celebrated kite and key experiment of June 1752. Lithograph, by Currier & Ives, 1876., Currier, N. (1813-88) and Ives, J.M. (1824-95) / Bridgeman Images