![]() ![]() Before he publicly announced his support for American independence, a few even suspected he might be a British spy. ![]() Franklin had soured on the monarchy by the time he returned to the United States for the Second Continental Congress in 1775, but his past support for King George III earned him the suspicion of many of his fellow patriots. When the Boston Tea Party took place in 1773, he dubbed it an “act of violent injustice on our part” and insisted that the East India Company should be compensated for its losses. Having lived in London for several years and held royal appointments, he instead pushed for peaceful compromise and the preservation of the empire, once writing that, “every encroachment on rights is not worth a rebellion.” He was a reluctant revolutionary.įranklin was among the last of the Founding Fathers to come out in favor of full separation from Britain. Thousands were manufactured, and the likes of Mozart, Beethoven and Strauss all composed music for it.įranklin would later write that “Of all my inventions, the glass armonica has given me the greatest personal satisfaction.” 5. The armonica would go on to amass a considerable following during the 18th and early 19th centuries. To play the instrument, the user would simply wet their fingers, rotate the apparatus and then touch the glass pieces to create individual tones or melodies. He made his first prototype in 1761 by having a London glassmaker build him 37 glass orbs of different sizes and pitches, which he then mounted on a spindle controlled by a foot pedal. Among Franklin’s more unusual inventions is his “glass armonica,” an instrument designed to replicate the otherworldly sound that a wet finger makes when rubbed along the rim of a glass. ![]()
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