Benjamin Franklin was born to a poor soap boiler on January 17,
1706 in Boston, Massachusetts. He was one of many children in
his family, and he learned to appreciate the rewards of hard
work at age twelve as an apprentice at his brother James'
printing shop. By the age of seventeen, Franklin's skills as a
printer had become so strong that at twenty-two he left Boston
to open his own printing shop in Pennsylvania. This is where he
developed his two most famous publications, The Pennsylvania
Gazette, the most popular newspaper in the colonies, and the
annual Poor Richard's Almanac. Franklin was one of the first
printers to use cartoons in his publications in order to
accommodate the people who had not learned to read. He believed
that his publications were a way to get information to every
person, not just those who could read. In Pennsylvania, Franklin
founded organizations, became involved in the community, and
assembled a vast collection of inventions that would allow
people to live better lives. He started