Most Americans are familiar with the story of Benjamin Franklin and his famous 18th-century experiment in which he attached a metal key to a kite during a thunderstorm to see if the lightning would ...

On this day in history, June 10, 1752, Benjamin Franklin reportedly flew a kite during a thunderstorm, with the goal of collecting ambient electrical charge in a Leyden jar — a container that could ...

From the Smithsonian magazine archives, some of our favorite reader questions about our nation's founding upon its 250th birthday. Q: Did Benjamin Franklin really fly a kite in a thunderstorm? Thanks ...

IT WAS a celebrated experiment demonstrating the electrical nature of lightning. And it’s just gone electronic. Benjamin Franklin’s 1752 paper describing how he conducted lightning with a kite is one ...

PHILADELPHIA -- Legend has it that 250 years ago this month, Benjamin Franklin sailed a kite and a key into a stormy Philadelphia sky and made a shocking discovery: Lightning is a form of electricity.

Illustrations of scientific experiments play a fundamental role in both science education and the dissemination of scientific knowledge to the general public. Confirming the adage that “a picture is ...

You are able to gift 5 more articles this month. Anyone can access the link you share with no account required. Learn more. On June 10th, 1752, Benjamin Franklin did a very dangerous thing. He flew a ...

Let’s talk about the kite and the lightning storm. In the public’s mind, Benjamin Franklin’s scientific work has largely been reduced to this one experiment, in which Franklin demonstrated that ...