Remembering Ben Franklin on his 300th Birthday

NPR | By Joel Rose

Published January 16, 2006 at 9:18 PM EST

As Philadelphia gets ready to celebrate Ben Franklin's 300th birthday on Jan. 17, Joel Rose of member station WHYY gives us a sense of Franklin's lasting impact on America.

Franklin was a man of diverse talents: publisher, inventor, ambassador, politician, wit. And one key to his appeal may lie in his all-too-human failures.

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