Benjamin Franklin

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American polymath and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A leading printer, author, publisher, inventor, scientist, public servant and diplomat, a renaissance man, extraordinarily gifted. He left his mark on history in the files of science, invention and engineering; statesmanship; education and the study of nature; finance, insurance, commerce and industry; mass communication; printing, advertising and the graphic arts; religion, fraternal organizations and the humanities; medicine and public health; agriculture; and music and recreation. Born humbly in Boston, the 15th of 17 kids, he became a printer's apprentice at 12. At 17, he opened his own print shop, a physically robust youth. Printing led to writing, publishing, business success and fame. At 26, he initiated his "Poor Richard's Almanac." Retiring at 42, he dedicated himself to science, until called to politics five years later. When Franklin died on 17 April 1790, he was the best-loved public figure in the world. He wrote his own epitaph, saying that he would "appear once more in a new and more elegant Edition, revised and corrected by the Author." Link to Wikipedia biography