| Timeline |
| 1706 |
Born 17 January in Boston |
| 1718 |
Apprenticeship with brother James |
| 1723 |
Leaves for Philadelphia |
| 1724 |
Moves to London |
| 1726 |
Returns to Philadelphia |
| 1727 |
Founds the Junto, later the American Philosophical Society |
| 1728 |
Owner and publisher of the Pennsylvania Gazette |
| 1730 |
Marries Deborah Read Rogers |
| 1731 |
Founds first Circulating Library, son William born |
| 1732 |
Son Francis born; begins publishing Poor Richard: An Almanack |
| 1736 |
Founds the Union Fire Company in Philadelphia; son Francis dies |
| 1737 |
Appointed Postmaster of Philadelphia |
| 1743 |
Daughter Sarah born |
| 1747 |
Begins experimenting with electricity |
| 1748 |
Retires from publishing/printing |
| 1751 |
Experiments and Observations on Electricity published |
| 1756 |
Elected to the Royal Society (Britain) |
| 1757 |
Travels to London representing the Pennsylvania Assembly |
| 1762 |
Returns to Philadelphia |
| 1764 |
Travels to London |
| 1767 |
Travels to France |
| 1769 |
Elected president of the American Philosophical Society |
| 1772 |
Inducted into the French Academy of Science |
| 1774 |
Wife dies; Hutchinson Letters Affair |
| 1775 |
Returns to Philadelphia; elected to Continental Congress; submits Articles of Confederation of United Colonies |
| 1776 |
Signs the Declaration of Independence; presides at Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention; sails to France as American Commissioner |
| 1778 |
Negotiates and signs Treaty of Alliance with France |
| 1779 |
Appointed Minister to France |
| 1782 |
Along with John Adams and John Jay, Franklin negotiates the Treaty of Peace with Great Britain |
| 1784 |
Negotiates treaties with Prussia and other European countries |
| 1785 |
Returns to Philadelphia |
| 1787 |
Elected president of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery; serves as delegate to the Constitutional Convention |
| 1790 |
Dies 17 April in Philadelphia |
