Benjamin Franklin House
@benfranklinhouse.bsky.social
160 followers 360 following 38 posts
36 Craven Street, London - the world’s only remaining Franklin residence, where he lived from 1757-1775 Open to the public Wednesday-Sunday linktr.ee/benjaminfranklinhouse
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
benfranklinhouse.bsky.social
📢Call for papers!

Benjamin Franklin House is hosting a conference, “Remember the ladies”: Women and Revolution, in London in May 2026!

Details are available here: benjaminfranklinhouse.org/event/spring...

If you have any questions, please email Megan King at [email protected].
benfranklinhouse.bsky.social
We are closed today due to unforeseen circumstances.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause, and we will reopen tomorrow, Sunday 28th September.
benfranklinhouse.bsky.social
Join us for all sorts of Halloween fun -- from spooky House tours to Georgian storytelling!

➡️ Scroll for dates and times

#Halloween #London #LondonHistory
benfranklinhouse.bsky.social
Our Chairman, John Studzinski, appeared on the latest episode of the BBC Radio 4 programme, Great Lives, to discuss Benjamin Franklin!

Listen here: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

#BBC #GreatLives
benfranklinhouse.bsky.social
🎟️ Log in to Open House and get your ticket today: programme.openhouse.org.uk/activities/2...

#OpenHouseLondon #OpenHouse2025
benfranklinhouse.bsky.social
Join us for a FREE Open House event featuring George Goodwin in conversation with Zara Anishanslin. The two will discuss Zara's latest work, highlighting how artists & the ideals that inspired their work fanned the flames of resistance during the pre-Revolutionary era.

Limited tickets available 👇
benfranklinhouse.bsky.social
New hours and new offerings mean new opportunities to explore Benjamin Franklin House!

Choose from guided tours and experiences OR opt for our all-new self-guided tour, which includes a newspaper-style guide that you can take home!

#BenjaminFranklinHouse #London #Museum #Tour #History #USHistory
benfranklinhouse.bsky.social
The Join or Die cartoon was published in Benjamin Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette #otd in 1754.

Attributed to Franklin, it represented the need for cohesion among the 13 colonies during the Seven Years War; however, it resurfaced as a potent symbol for colonial unity during the American Revolution.
benfranklinhouse.bsky.social
Happy #NationalPajamaDay!

Not long after his arrival in London, Franklin wrote to his wife, telling her how chilly he found the nights in Mrs. Stevenson's lodging house. According to Franklin, he had to bundle up "in a short Callico Bedgown with close Sleeves, and Flannel close-footed Trowsers".
benfranklinhouse.bsky.social
Join us on Easter Monday for a book talk with author Richard Munson 📖

In this fascinating new bio, Munson places Franklin's curious, innovative spirit at the forefront of his life story & argues that Franklin’s political life cannot be fully understood without examining his scientific successes.
benfranklinhouse.bsky.social
Join us THIS FRIDAY for a FREE Open House!

There's no need to pre-book! Just drop in at your leisure and enjoy a self-guided tour 📲 or try your hand at kite-making 🪁

#BenjaminFranklinHouse #BenjaminFranklin #London #LondonHistory
benfranklinhouse.bsky.social
Franklin’s “Maritime Observations” also offered guidance for improving the welfare of sailors and ship passengers, and called for safer, more practical adjustments in ship propulsion methods and hull designs.

Source: buff.ly/bfdyHpX
benfranklinhouse.bsky.social
For almost four decades, he contemplated ocean currents before concluding that what we now call the Gulf Stream runs like a "river in the ocean", can both propel ships forward or cause water resistance against them.
benfranklinhouse.bsky.social
During his homeward journey to Philly, Franklin allowed himself some time away from thinking, writing, & speaking about the Anglo-American conflict. He turned his attention to a question that had nagged him for years: why do westbound ships have a longer crossing of the Atlantic than eastbound?
benfranklinhouse.bsky.social
Are you following us? We're everywhere!

Join us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Bluesky, and X to stay up-to-date on all things Benjamin Franklin House📲
benfranklinhouse.bsky.social
He left instructions for Mrs. Stevenson 📜, settled his accounts 💰, and expressed his hopes of returning to London in the autumn 🍂

#BenjaminFranklinHouse #BenjaminFranklin #London #History #AmericanRevolution #America250UK #USA250
benfranklinhouse.bsky.social
During the week preceding his departure from London, Benjamin Franklin took the time to write to various friends and colleagues he connected with during his almost 16 years of living on Craven Street.
benfranklinhouse.bsky.social
Source: buff.ly/w1e2lbe

#BenjaminFranklinHouse #BenjaminFranklin #London #AmericanRevolution #America250UK #USA250
benfranklinhouse.bsky.social
While Franklin certainly understood the seriousness of these circumstances, he likely would not have predicted the physical conflict that erupted in Lexington and Concord some three weeks prior to his arrival in Philadelphia on May 5, 1775.
benfranklinhouse.bsky.social

Parliamentary decision-makers had become fatigued by these peaceable means of resistance, which once opened doors to discussion and debate between England and America.
benfranklinhouse.bsky.social
One week before Franklin departed from his Craven Street home, he wrote to close friend and fellow Philadelphian Charles Thomson, explaining that at this point in the Imperial Crisis, petitions and letters of support from quasi-governmental bodies in the colonies were no longer enough.
benfranklinhouse.bsky.social
Absolutely! Franklin benefitted from the institution of slavery in a multitude of ways, and without the labour of the seven (at least) enslaved individuals that Franklin owned throughout his life, Franklin would not have lived the life he did or accomplished all that he did.
benfranklinhouse.bsky.social
It's #NationalGrammarDay -- a day Franklin would've appreciated!

In 1749, Franklin's pamphlet "Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania", argued that PA children should learn proper grammar via "Classicks", like "Tillotson, Addison, Pope, Algernon Sidney, [&] Cato’s Letters".
benfranklinhouse.bsky.social
classical themes, Christianity, life in the ‘New World’ of America, and her African heritage. According to Franklin’s papers, he visited her and “offer’d her any Services [he] could do her”.

#BenjaminFranklinHouse #BenjaminFranklin