Last Saturday Was Ben Franklin's Birthday... A Belated Happy Birthday Ben!

I had this blog ready to go three weeks ago; somehow I got distracted and forgot to post it last Saturday. So, here it is, two days late.

Benjamin Franklin - Born January 17, 1706

Ben Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, civic activist, statesman, diplomat, scientist and inventor. 

In 1750 he published a proposal for an experiment to prove that lightning is electricity by flying a kite in a storm that appeared capable of becoming a lightning storm.

On June 15, 1752 Franklin may possibly have conducted his well known kite experiment in Philadelphia, successfully extracting electricity (in the form of sparks) from a cloud.

Though Franklin has been most noted kite-wise with his lightning experiments, he has also been noted for his ideas of using kites to pull humans and ships across waterways. On one occasion he tied a kite to his boat and let the kite pull him across the pond he was on.

Today "Traction Kiting" is enjoyed in many ways:

Kite-sailing

Kite-surfing

Snow-kiting

Extreme Snow-kiting

Kite-buggying

Land-boarding

And just pilot and power kite

Thank you, Ben Franklin, for all the fun we're having!