Lightning Strikes: Benjamin Franklin's Philadelphia Experiment

The First: Stories of Inventions and their Consequences by Greg Young

Aug 11, 201730:30Society & Culture

How much do you know about one of the most famous scientific experiments in American history? In 1752 Benjamin Franklin and his son William performed a dangerous act of experimentation, conjuring one of nature's most let...

Related Episodes

Continue listening to more episodes from The First: Stories of Inventions and their Consequences.

The First Apartment Building in America (A Stuyvesant Story)

Jan 3, 2018 - 25:21

Apartment living is something we take for granted today, the option for those who can't afford or don't d...

The Lost Highway: America's First Cross Country Road

Dec 21, 2017 - 34:21

In 1900, there were about 8,000 registered automobiles in the United States. They were a genuine novelty....

How Electric Light Changed Christmas Forever

Dec 7, 2017 - 28:51

That string of multi-colored Christmas lights wrapped around your tree (or your house) is far more influe...

The Plant Doctor: The Extraordinary George Washington Carver

Oct 6, 2017 - 31:30

How much do you know about George Washington Carver, the man born into slavery who became America's most...

The Real Housewives of Early America: The Story of the First American Cookbook

Sep 21, 2017 - 30:16

"Over the river and through the woods" into the history of early American cuisine. The first published Eu...

The Rebel: America's Founding Inventor

Aug 25, 2017 - 40:06

Benjamin Franklin was the most famous American in the world by the time of the Revolutionary War, known a...

Franklin Gothic: The Invention of Benjamin Franklin

Jul 28, 2017 - 34:59

Benjamin Franklin did more in his first forty years than most people do in an entire lifetime. Had he not...

The Secret History of Soft Drinks: A Tale In Four Flavors

Jun 20, 2017 - 30:28

There is something very, very bizarre about a can of soda. How did this sugary, bubbly beverage – dark br...