We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that all farts should smell better, and that all Founding Fathers of this great nation should smoke copious amounts of hemp.
1. Two days before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the delegates of the Constitutional Convention threw a party where they consumed 54 bottles of Madeira, 60 bottles of claret, 8 bottles of whiskey, 22 bottles of porter, 8 bottles of hard cider, 12 bottles of beer and 7 bowls of alcoholic punch.
2. Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776 – John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Almost everyone else signed the document on August 2nd.
3. Most of the Founding Fathers believed Independence Day would be celebrated on July 2nd. John Adams wrote a letter to his wife saying "the Second of July, 1776, will be the most memorable in the history of America."
4. Benjamin Franklin wrote an essay encouraging academics to find a method for "improving the odor of human flatulence."
5. At 16, Benjamin Franklin regularly published editorials under the guise of Ms. Silence Dogood, a middle-aged widow.
6. Benjamin Franklin wasn't trusted to write the Declaration of Independence because it was thought he'd try to put a joke in it.
7. Benjamin Franklin was not great at math, and most of his experiments with electricity were rudimentary and relied on trial and error.
8. Benjamin Franklin coined a number of electrical terms we still use today, including: battery, brush, charged, condense, conductor, plus, minus, positively and negatively.
9. Benjamin Franklin was an early supporter of abolishment. He tried to abolish slavery in 1790 by petitioning congress.
10. Benjamin Franklin enjoyed "air baths" – reading or writing in his house completely naked.
11. Benjamin Franklin thought the Bald Eagle was a bad national symbol because it was "a bird of bad moral character that does not get his living honestly."
12. He felt the Turkey would be better because it was a "Bird of Courage", and "would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards."
13. Benjamin Franklin purposely misspelled "Pennsylvania" when designing the state's currency in order to deter counterfeiters.
14. Benjamin Franklin advocated for simplified English spelling. He thought words such as though, through, and night should be spelled tho, thru, and nite.
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