Benjamin Franklin’s Kite Experiment
Ben Franklin was a true renaissance man … statesman, writer, and inventor. Therefore, we can assume that he was smart enough not to intentionally get himself struck by lightning. Scientists have known of electricity since the 1600s, and Franklin himself only wanted to know if our atmosphere carried a charge. He theorized an experiment wherein he could fly a kite with a key attached to try to collect ions and generate static. The idea of flying the kite in a thunderstorm is a dramatic exaggeration, and luckily, there’s no evidence that he ever performed either version of the experiment. If he did ever try to fly the kite in a thunderstorm, he would probably have died, as that kind of strike would most likely have been fatal. Modern-day scientists who attempt to re-create the experiment can vouch that it’s a decidedly bad idea.
Pilgrims Founded the First American Settlements
The Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth on the Mayflower in 1620. The Puritans, a completely different group of settlers, also arrived in 1620, and started their colony in Massachusetts Bay. Many people, and even historical sources, confuse these two separate groups of people, and claim that they were the first settlers to reach the New World. But they weren’t. King James I sanctioned the Jamestown colony and settled in Virginia in 1607 as an investment to find new trade routes. Even before that, the “Lost Colony” of Roanoke was settled in North Carolina in 1587, organized by Sir Walter Raleigh to enrich the coffers of Elizabeth I. The Spanish may still take offense to Roanoke being labeled the first colony, since they settled the city of St. Augustine, Florida, twenty-two years earlier in 1565.
While these stories tell about our nation’s struggle to create its own folk heroes, they mix in a great deal of hearsay, speculation, and rumor. Unfortunately, these tall tales have longevity because they’re more sensational and exciting than actual history. Despite having little to no basis in truth, they persist because Americans love a good story, and when it comes to history, an exciting fabrication is sometimes just as good as the truth. As they say in the John Wayne movie The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, “When legend becomes fact, print the legend.”
