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103-539: The parkway is named for Benjamin Franklin , a Founding Father greatly affiliated with the city and the successful American Revolution , which led to American independence. The mile-long parkway cuts diagonally across the grid plan pattern of Center City 's northwest quadrant, starting at Philadelphia City Hall , curving around Logan Circle , and ending before the Philadelphia Museum of Art . In

206-541: A planter from Barbados , in London. In 1763, he was appointed as the last royal governor of New Jersey. A Loyalist to the king, William Franklin saw his relations with father Benjamin eventually break down over their differences about the American Revolutionary War , as Benjamin Franklin could never accept William's position. Deposed in 1776 by the revolutionary government of New Jersey, William

309-628: A Freemason for the rest of his life. At age 17 in 1723, Franklin proposed to 15-year-old Deborah Read while a boarder in the Read home. At that time, Deborah's mother was wary of allowing her young daughter to marry Franklin, who was on his way to London at Governor Keith's request, and also because of his financial instability. Her own husband had recently died, and she declined Franklin's request to marry her daughter. Franklin travelled to London, and after he failed to communicate as expected with Deborah and her family, they interpreted his long silence as

412-413: A Puritan family that was among the first Pilgrims to flee to Massachusetts for religious freedom , sailing for Boston in 1635 after King Charles I of England had begun persecuting Puritans. Her father Peter was "the sort of rebel destined to transform colonial America." As clerk of the court , he was arrested on February 10, 1676, and jailed on February 19 for his inability to pay bail. He spent over

515-585: A breaking of his promises. At the urging of her mother, Deborah married a potter named John Rogers on August 5, 1725. John soon fled to Barbados with her dowry in order to avoid debts and prosecution. Since Rogers' fate was unknown, bigamy laws prevented Deborah from remarrying. Franklin returned in 1726 and resumed his courtship of Deborah. They established a common-law marriage on September 1, 1730. They took in his recently acknowledged illegitimate young son and raised him in their household. They had two children together. Their son, Francis Folger Franklin ,

618-653: A city famous for its urban planning , the Parkway represents one of the earliest examples of urban renewal in the United States. The road was constructed to ease heavy industrial congestion in Center City and to restore Philadelphia's natural and artistic beauty, as part of the City Beautiful movement. The vision for a grand parkway came from retail pioneer John Wanamaker . Preliminary proposals for

721-529: A class for four years, and there would be no religious test for admission. Johnson went on to found King's College (now Columbia University ) in New York City in 1754, while Franklin hired Smith as provost of the College of Philadelphia, which opened in 1755. At its first commencement, on May 17, 1757, seven men graduated; six with a Bachelor of Arts and one with a Master of Arts. It was later merged with

824-633: A former baseball stadium. Upon entering New Jersey, I-676 becomes signed as a north–south road. There is a southbound ramp to 6th Street in Camden, which is near the toll plaza for northbound traffic. After the toll plaza, US 30 splits from I-676 at an interchange, at which point I-676 turns south as a six-lane freeway called the Martin Luther King Memorial Highway or the North–South Freeway. Immediately after

927-621: A historically sensitive site, to connect to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. As a result, the routing was modified in 1966 to avoid many of these obstacles. The route was to avoid running through Franklin Square, leading to the eastbound direction using surface streets to access the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, and a planned connector to Market Street was removed. In the 1970s, the proposed freeway's environmental impact statement (EIS) had to be evaluated again per new guidelines; when

1030-500: A new start in a new city. When he first arrived, he worked in several printing shops there, but he was not satisfied by the immediate prospects in any of these jobs. After a few months, while working in one printing house, Pennsylvania governor Sir William Keith convinced him to go to London, ostensibly to acquire the equipment necessary for establishing another newspaper in Philadelphia. Discovering that Keith's promises of backing

1133-639: A newspaper were empty, he worked as a typesetter in a printer's shop in what is the present-day Church of St Bartholomew-the-Great in the Smithfield area of London. Following this, he returned to Philadelphia in 1726 with the help of Thomas Denham , a merchant who employed him as a clerk, shopkeeper, and bookkeeper in his business. In 1727, at age 21, Franklin formed the Junto , a group of "like minded aspiring artisans and tradesmen who hoped to improve themselves while they improved their community." The Junto

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1236-542: A patriotic stand in the growing crisis with Great Britain. Franklin's Connecticut Gazette (1755–68), however, proved unsuccessful. As the Revolution approached, political strife slowly tore his network apart. In 1730 or 1731, Franklin was initiated into the local Masonic lodge . He became a grand master in 1734, indicating his rapid rise to prominence in Pennsylvania. The same year, he edited and published

1339-494: A postal system. The report of the committee, providing for the appointment of a postmaster general for the 13 American colonies, was considered by the Continental Congress on July 25 and 26. On July 26, 1775, Franklin was appointed postmaster general, the first appointed under the Continental Congress. His apprentice, William Goddard , felt that his ideas were mostly responsible for shaping the postal system and that

1442-566: A regular oval; this pattern was modified in the early 1960s to its present elongated circular shape, with the truncated lanes serving as staging areas for various events. On July 2, 2005, the steps of the museum played host to the Philadelphia venue of Live 8 , where artists such as Dave Matthews Band , Linkin Park and Maroon 5 performed. In Spring 2012, a new museum for the Barnes Foundation 's collection of Impressionist art on

1545-664: A scheme for the Academy, Charity School, and College of Philadelphia ; however, the person he had in mind to run the academy, Rev. Richard Peters , refused and Franklin put his ideas away until 1749 when he printed his own pamphlet, Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pensilvania. He was appointed president of the Academy on November 13, 1749; the academy and the charity school opened in 1751. In 1743, he founded

1648-562: A scientist and statesman, he habitually signed his letters with the unpretentious 'B. Franklin, Printer.' In 1732, he published the first German-language newspaper in America – Die Philadelphische Zeitung – although it failed after only one year because four other newly founded German papers quickly dominated the newspaper market. Franklin also printed Moravian religious books in German. He often visited Bethlehem, Pennsylvania , staying at

1751-873: A year and a half in jail. Franklin was born on Milk Street in Boston , Province of Massachusetts Bay on January 17, 1706, and baptized at the Old South Meeting House in Boston. As a child growing up along the Charles River , Franklin recalled that he was "generally the leader among the boys." Franklin's father wanted him to attend school with the clergy but only had enough money to send him to school for two years. He attended Boston Latin School but did not graduate; he continued his education through voracious reading. Although "his parents talked of

1854-764: Is at I-76 in Philadelphia near the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Fairmount Park . From there, it heads east and is then routed on surface streets near Franklin Square and Independence National Historical Park , home of the Liberty Bell , before crossing the Delaware River on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge . On the New Jersey side of the bridge, the highway heads south to its southern terminus at I-76 in Gloucester City near

1957-647: Is evidently a portrait of his rival, Samuel Keimer . Franklin had mixed success in his plan to establish an inter-colonial network of newspapers that would produce a profit for him and disseminate virtue. Over the years he sponsored two dozen printers in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, New York, Connecticut, and even the Caribbean. By 1753, eight of the fifteen English language newspapers in the colonies were published by him or his partners. He began in Charleston, South Carolina , in 1731. After his second editor died,

2060-653: Is the spine of Philadelphia's Museum District. Some of the city's most famous sights are located here: Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul ; Swann Memorial Fountain ; Parkway Central Library , the Family Court Building , the Franklin Institute , Moore College of Art and Design , the Academy of Natural Sciences , the Rodin Museum , Eakins Oval , the Barnes Foundation , and the Philadelphia Museum of Art . From its northern end,

2163-569: The Rocky statue by A. Thomas Schomberg . 39°57′49″N 75°10′43″W  /  39.9637°N 75.1787°W  / 39.9637; -75.1787 Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 [ O.S. January 6, 1705]  – April 17, 1790) was an American polymath : a leading writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and political philosopher . Among

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2266-746: The American Philosophical Society to help scientific men discuss their discoveries and theories. He began the electrical research that, along with other scientific inquiries, would occupy him for the rest of his life, in between bouts of politics and moneymaking. During King George's War , Franklin raised a militia called the Association for General Defense because the legislators of the city had decided to take no action to defend Philadelphia "either by erecting fortifications or building Ships of War." He raised money to create earthwork defenses and buy artillery. The largest of these

2369-597: The Benjamin Franklin Bridge approach, where westbound and eastbound traffic actually have a traffic light intersecting Franklin Street and 6th Street respectively, an example of a non–limited access section of Interstate Highway. Westbound I-676/US 30 has a ramp from the bridge to the Vine Street Expressway that intersects 7th Street and 8th Street at-grade. From this point, I-676/US 30 crosses over I-95, Christopher Columbus Boulevard , and then

2472-687: The College of William & Mary , called a "new-model" plan or style of American college. Franklin solicited, printed in 1752, and promoted an American textbook of moral philosophy by Samuel Johnson, titled Elementa Philosophica , to be taught in the new colleges. In June 1753, Johnson, Franklin, and Smith met in Stratford. They decided the new-model college would focus on the professions, with classes taught in English instead of Latin, have subject matter experts as professors instead of one tutor leading

2575-680: The Delaware River on the seven-lane Benjamin Franklin Bridge, which also carries pedestrians and the PATCO Speedline . This bridge and its approaches are maintained by the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA). After crossing the bridge, the freeway enters the downtown area of the city of Camden in Camden County, New Jersey , and passes to the north of the former site of Campbell's Field ,

2678-740: The Franklin stove . He founded many civic organizations , including the Library Company , Philadelphia 's first fire department , and the University of Pennsylvania . Franklin earned the title of "The First American" for his early and indefatigable campaigning for colonial unity . He was the only person to sign the Declaration of Independence, Treaty of Paris , peace with Britain and the Constitution . Foundational in defining

2781-592: The Instructor and made it The Pennsylvania Gazette . The Gazette soon became his characteristic organ, which he freely used for satire, for the play of his wit, even for sheer excess of mischief or of fun. From the first, he had a way of adapting his models to his own uses. The series of essays called " The Busy-Body ," which he wrote for Bradford's American Mercury in 1729, followed the general Addisonian form, already modified to suit homelier conditions. The thrifty Patience, in her busy little shop, complaining of

2884-643: The Moravian Sun Inn . In a 1751 pamphlet on demographic growth and its implications for the Thirteen Colonies, he called the Pennsylvania Germans "Palatine Boors" who could never acquire the "Complexion" of Anglo-American settlers and referred to "Blacks and Tawneys" as weakening the social structure of the colonies. Although he apparently reconsidered shortly thereafter, and the phrases were omitted from all later printings of

2987-500: The Old South Meeting House by Reverend Samuel Willard , and had ten children with her. Benjamin, their eighth child, was Josiah Franklin's fifteenth child overall, and his tenth and final son. Benjamin Franklin's mother, Abiah, was born in Nantucket , Massachusetts Bay Colony , on August 15, 1667, to Peter Folger , a miller and schoolteacher, and his wife, Mary Morrell Folger , a former indentured servant . Mary Folger came from

3090-540: The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Franklin Institute science museum. From this point, the Vine Street Expressway enters a depressed road cut and passes under several streets and two freeway lids , running along the northern edge of Center City . Vine Street serves as a street-level frontage road to the freeway. Within this alignment, there is an exit for Pennsylvania Route 611 (PA 611; Broad Street ). After passing under 10th Street in Chinatown ,

3193-590: The Philadelphia Museum of Art . The Champs-Élysées terminates at the Arc de Triomphe , and the Parkway's terminating at the Art Museum gives the notion of "a slice of Paris in Philadelphia." The Parkway contains flags of countries from around the world. The traffic rotary on the western end of the Parkway, at the foot of the Art Museum's Rocky Steps , is named Eakins Oval after Philadelphia painter Thomas Eakins . The traffic lanes around Eakins Oval originally formed

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3296-822: The Schuylkill River , while, in New Jersey, the North–South Freeway was to head south along the Route ;42 corridor. When the Interstate Highway System was created in the 1950s, this stretch of highway was a part of I-80S, with Interstate 680 ( I-680 ) continuing on the Schuylkill Expressway to the Walt Whitman Bridge . In 1964, the designations became I-76 and I-676, respectively, and, in 1972,

3399-671: The University of the State of Pennsylvania to become the University of Pennsylvania . The college was to become influential in guiding the founding documents of the United States: in the Continental Congress , for example, over one-third of the college-affiliated men who contributed to the Declaration of Independence between September 4, 1774, and July 4, 1776, were affiliated with the college. In 1754, he headed

3502-413: The Walt Whitman Bridge . Between the western terminus and downtown Camden, I-676 is concurrent with U.S. Route 30 (US 30). After World War II , freeway approaches were planned for both sides of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, which was completed in 1926 and serves as a part of US 30. In Pennsylvania , the Vine Street Expressway was planned to run along the northern edge of Center City to

3605-455: The American ethos, Franklin has been called "the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become". His life and legacy of scientific and political achievement, and his status as one of America's most influential Founding Fathers, have seen Franklin honored for more than two centuries after his death on the $ 100 bill and in

3708-539: The British Plantations in America. He used the heraldic badge of the Prince of Wales as the cover illustration. Franklin wrote a letter, " Advice to a Friend on Choosing a Mistress ," dated June 25, 1745, in which he gives advice to a young man about channeling sexual urges. Due to its licentious nature, it was not published in collections of his papers during the 19th century. Federal court rulings from

3811-658: The Loyalist cause, was held in solitary confinement at Litchfield for eight months. When finally released in a prisoner exchange in 1778, he moved to New York City, which was occupied by the British at the time. While in New York City, he became leader of the Board of Associated Loyalists, a quasi-military organization chartered by King George III and headquartered in New York City. They initiated guerrilla forays into New Jersey, southern Connecticut, and New York counties north of

3914-614: The Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency in 1729, and his printer printed money. He was influential in the more restrained and thus successful monetary experiments in the Middle Colonies, which stopped deflation without causing excessive inflation. In 1766, he made a case for paper money to the British House of Commons . As he matured, Franklin began to concern himself more with public affairs. In 1743, he first devised

4017-577: The Parkway did not begin until 1917, when French landscape architect Jacques Gréber submitted a revised plan to the Commissioners of Fairmount Park. Gréber designed the Parkway in 1917 to emulate the Champs-Élysées in Paris , France. The route was determined by an axis drawn from Philadelphia City Hall to a fixed point on the hill that William Penn called "Fairmount" , now the site of

4120-628: The Parkway had been produced and added to the City Plan by 1906, but the first comprehensive plan for the Parkway was commissioned in 1907 by the Fairmount Park Art Association, now the Association for Public Art . The Association commissioned architects Horace Trumbauer , Clarence Zantzinger, and Paul Philippe Cret , who created a detailed parkway design that was formally added to the City Plan in 1909. Construction on

4223-686: The Parkway provides access to Fairmount Park through Kelly Drive (formerly East River Drive), Martin Luther King Drive (formerly West River Drive), the Schuylkill River Trail , and the Schuylkill Expressway ( I-76 ). The Parkway also is an outdoor sculpture garden. Works include: The Thinker by Auguste Rodin , The Gates of Hell also by Rodin, LOVE by Robert Indiana , The Ideal Scout by Robert Tait McKenzie , Three-Way Piece by Henry Moore ,

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4326-467: The Parkway was flooded with over a million visitors both weekend days, a Celebration of Families on Saturday, and a Holy Mass on Sunday. There has been concern that the original plan of a wide, multi-sectioned, multi-lane, tree-lined boulevard, while beautiful to travel on, is not very engaging for pedestrian or other public use. Traffic along the Parkway has decreased considerably because of the completion of Interstate 676 (Vine Street Expressway), linking

4429-891: The Pennsylvania delegation to the Albany Congress . This meeting of several colonies had been requested by the Board of Trade in England to improve relations with the Indians and defense against the French. Franklin proposed a broad Plan of Union for the colonies. While the plan was not adopted, elements of it found their way into the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution . In 1753, Harvard University and Yale awarded him honorary master of arts degrees. In 1756, he

4532-476: The Pennsylvania legislature to establish a hospital. Pennsylvania Hospital was the first hospital in the colonies. In 1752, Franklin organized the Philadelphia Contributionship , the Colonies' first homeowner's insurance company. Between 1750 and 1753, the "educational triumvirate" of Franklin, Samuel Johnson of Stratford, Connecticut , and schoolteacher William Smith built on Franklin's initial scheme and created what Bishop James Madison , president of

4635-428: The Schuylkill Expressway with the Benjamin Franklin Bridge . The roadway was since narrowed somewhat and the sidewalks expanded around Logan Circle . A plan for a greener, more walkable Parkway was released by the city in 2023. As of 2023, the Parkway is part of Philadelphia's High Injury Network , the small fraction of streets on which the majority of traffic deaths and serious injuries occur. [[Image:]] The Parkway

4738-400: The US 30 split, there is an interchange with County Route 537 (CR 537; Market Street/Federal Street) and Martin Luther King Boulevard that provides access to downtown Camden. Within this interchange, the highway passes over NJ Transit 's River Line . From this point, I-676 continues south through urban areas of the city, passing over several streets and running immediately to

4841-493: The Vine Street Expressway portion of I-676. The project, which cost $ 64.8 million (equivalent to $ 76.2 million in 2023 ), was to be completed in late 2019. Since 2021, the new overpasses started to have traffic. After the remnants of Hurricane Ida passed through the area on September 1, 2021, intense rain and floodwaters from the swollen Schuylkill River flooded the expressway after drainage pumps failed. I-676 through Philadelphia remained closed for three days. In 2022,

4944-420: The appointment should have gone to him, but he graciously conceded it to Franklin, 36 years his senior. Franklin, however, appointed Goddard as Surveyor of the Posts, issued him a signed pass, and directed him to investigate and inspect the various post offices and mail routes as he saw fit. The newly established postal system became the United States Post Office, a system that continues to operate today. From

5047-432: The burning spirits, and Daniel Rees died of his burns two days later." While Franklin did not directly participate in the hazing that led to Rees' death , he knew of the hazing before it turned fatal, and did nothing to stop it. He was criticized for his inaction in The American Weekly Mercury , by his publishing rival Andrew Bradford . Ultimately, "Franklin replied in his own defense in the Gazette. " Franklin remained

5150-421: The church as a career" for Franklin, his schooling ended when he was ten. He worked for his father for a time, and at 12 he became an apprentice to his brother James, a printer, who taught him the printing trade. When Benjamin was 15, James founded The New-England Courant , which was the third newspaper founded in Boston. When denied the chance to write a letter to the paper for publication, Franklin adopted

5253-477: The city. When British troops evacuated from New York, William Franklin left with them and sailed to England. He settled in London, never to return to North America. In the preliminary peace talks in 1782 with Britain, "... Benjamin Franklin insisted that loyalists who had borne arms against the United States would be excluded from this plea (that they be given a general pardon). He was undoubtedly thinking of William Franklin." In 1732, Franklin began to publish

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5356-459: The colonial post office. When the lands of New France were ceded to the British under the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the British province of Quebec was created among them, and Franklin saw mail service expanded between Montreal , Trois-Rivières , Quebec City, and New York. For the greater part of his appointment, he lived in England (from 1757 to 1762, and again from 1764 to 1774)—about three-quarters of his term. Eventually, his sympathies for

5459-435: The connections between the Vine Street Expressway and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge . This intersection does not follow typical rules and regulations of the Interstate Highway System, and is also notorious for having high crash rates and pedestrian fatalities. I-676 begins at an interchange with the Schuylkill Expressway ( I-76 and US 30 ) in the city of Philadelphia in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania , heading to

5562-712: The construction of a printing network based on a chain of partnerships from the Carolinas to New England. He thereby invented the first newspaper chain. It was more than a business venture, for like many publishers he believed that the press had a public-service duty. When he established himself in Philadelphia, shortly before 1730, the town boasted two "wretched little" news sheets, Andrew Bradford 's The American Weekly Mercury and Samuel Keimer 's Universal Instructor in all Arts and Sciences, and Pennsylvania Gazette . This instruction in all arts and sciences consisted of weekly extracts from Chambers's Universal Dictionary . Franklin quickly did away with all of this when he took over

5665-480: The disease that subsequently killed him. Deborah wrote to him in November 1769, saying she was ill due to "dissatisfied distress" from his prolonged absence, but he did not return until his business was done. Deborah Read Franklin died of a stroke on December 14, 1774, while Franklin was on an extended mission to Great Britain; he returned in 1775. In 1730, 24-year-old Franklin publicly acknowledged his illegitimate son William and raised him in his household. William

5768-414: The east on the six-lane Vine Street Expressway concurrent with US 30. It immediately crosses the Schuylkill River and then the Schuylkill River Trail and CSX Transportation 's Philadelphia Subdivision railroad line on the river's east bank on the Vine Street Expressway Bridge , before coming to an interchange with 23rd Street and 22nd Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway that has access to

5871-455: The exit for Morgan Boulevard. Past Morgan Boulevard, the freeway crosses the north branch of Newton Creek. Here, I-676 ends at an interchange east of the Walt Whitman Bridge with I-76, CR 630, and unsigned Route 76C , the latter being an access road to US 130 and Route 168 . The North–South Freeway becomes a part of I-76 past this interchange and continues into the city of Gloucester City . The Benjamin Franklin Bridge

5974-407: The failure of this mission. At this time, many members of the Pennsylvania Assembly were feuding with William Penn's heirs, who controlled the colony as proprietors. After his return to the colony, Franklin led the "anti-proprietary party" in the struggle against the Penn family and was elected Speaker of the Pennsylvania House in May 1764. His call for a change from proprietary to royal government

6077-428: The first Masonic book in the Americas, a reprint of James Anderson 's Constitutions of the Free-Masons . He was the secretary of St. John's Lodge in Philadelphia from 1735 to 1738. In January 1738, "Franklin appeared as a witness" in a manslaughter trial against two men who killed "a simple-minded apprentice" named Daniel Rees in a fake Masonic initiation gone wrong. One of the men "threw, or accidentally spilled,

6180-442: The following year he became the publisher of The Pennsylvania Gazette , a newspaper in Philadelphia. The Gazette gave Franklin a forum for agitation about a variety of local reforms and initiatives through printed essays and observations. Over time, his commentary, and his adroit cultivation of a positive image as an industrious and intellectual young man, earned him a great deal of social respect. But even after he achieved fame as

6283-402: The governor , young Franklin took over the newspaper and had Mrs. Dogood proclaim, quoting Cato's Letters , "Without freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech." Franklin left his apprenticeship without his brother's permission, and in so doing became a fugitive. At age 17, Franklin ran away to Philadelphia , seeking

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6386-423: The last street the depressed alignment passes under, the highway rises up and reaches a split between the Vine Street Expressway, which continues to I-95 , and I-676/US 30. At this split, there is also an eastbound exit and westbound entrance for 8th Street. After exiting the Vine Street Expressway, eastbound I-676/US 30 has a brief at-grade portion along southbound 6th Street east of Franklin Square to

6489-451: The late 1750s, he began arguing against slavery , became an active abolitionist , and promoted the education and integration of African Americans into U.S. society. As a scientist, his studies of electricity made him a major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics . He also charted and named the Gulf Stream current. His numerous important inventions include the lightning rod , bifocals , glass harmonica and

6592-491: The mid-1750s to the mid-1770s, Franklin spent much of his time in London. In 1757, he was sent to England by the Pennsylvania Assembly as a colonial agent to protest against the political influence of the Penn family , the proprietors of the colony . He remained there for five years, striving to end the proprietors' prerogative to overturn legislation from the elected Assembly and their exemption from paying taxes on their land. His lack of influential allies in Whitehall led to

6695-456: The mid-to-late 20th century cited the document as a reason for overturning obscenity laws and against censorship. In 1736, Franklin created the Union Fire Company , one of the first volunteer firefighting companies in America. In the same year, he printed a new currency for New Jersey based on innovative anti- counterfeiting techniques he had devised. Throughout his career, he was an advocate for paper money , publishing A Modest Enquiry into

6798-463: The most influential intellectuals of his time, Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States ; a drafter and signer of the Declaration of Independence ; and the first postmaster general . Franklin became a successful newspaper editor and printer in Philadelphia, the leading city in the colonies, publishing the Pennsylvania Gazette at age 23. He became wealthy publishing this and Poor Richard's Almanack , which he wrote under

6901-406: The names of warships , many towns and counties, educational institutions and corporations , as well as in numerous cultural references and a portrait in the Oval Office . His more than 30,000 letters and documents have been collected in The Papers of Benjamin Franklin . Anne Robert Jacques Turgot said of him: "Eripuit fulmen cœlo, mox sceptra tyrannis" ("He snatched lightning from the sky and

7004-471: The nature of his mission. Interstate 676 Interstate 676 ( I-676 ) is an Interstate Highway that serves as a major thoroughfare through Center City Philadelphia , where it is known as the Vine Street Expressway , and Camden, New Jersey , where it is known as the northern segment of the North–South Freeway , as well as the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Highway in honor of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Its western terminus

7107-407: The new EIS was issued in 1977, it was found that more improvements were needed for mass transit in the area of the planned freeway. To comply with this, provisions were made concerning the proposed underground Center City Commuter Connection for SEPTA Regional Rail , in which the railroad tracks would pass under I-676 and residences would be built over the railroad tunnel in Chinatown. Construction

7210-421: The noted Poor Richard's Almanack (with content both original and borrowed) under the pseudonym Richard Saunders, on which much of his popular reputation is based. He frequently wrote under pseudonyms. The first issue published was for the upcoming year, 1733. He had developed a distinct, signature style that was plain, pragmatic and had a sly, soft but self-deprecating tone with declarative sentences. Although it

7313-500: The office until 1753, when he and publisher William Hunter were named deputy postmasters–general of British North America, the first to hold the office. ( Joint appointments were standard at the time, for political reasons.) He was responsible for the British colonies from Pennsylvania north and east, as far as the island of Newfoundland . A post office for local and outgoing mail had been established in Halifax, Nova Scotia , by local stationer Benjamin Leigh, on April 23, 1754, but service

7416-511: The pamphlet, his views may have played a role in his political defeat in 1764. According to Ralph Frasca, Franklin promoted the printing press as a device to instruct colonial Americans in moral virtue. Frasca argues he saw this as a service to God, because he understood moral virtue in terms of actions, thus, doing good provides a service to God. Despite his own moral lapses, Franklin saw himself as uniquely qualified to instruct Americans in morality. He tried to influence American moral life through

7519-655: The pseudonym "Richard Saunders". After 1767, he was associated with the Pennsylvania Chronicle , a newspaper known for its revolutionary sentiments and criticisms of the policies of the British Parliament and the Crown . He pioneered and was the first president of the Academy and College of Philadelphia , which opened in 1751 and later became the University of Pennsylvania. He organized and

7622-527: The pseudonym of " Silence Dogood ," a middle-aged widow. Mrs. Dogood's letters were published and became a subject of conversation around town. Neither James nor the Courant 's readers were aware of the ruse, and James was unhappy with Benjamin when he discovered the popular correspondent was his younger brother. Franklin was an advocate of free speech from an early age. When his brother was jailed for three weeks in 1722 for publishing material unflattering to

7725-667: The rebel cause in the American Revolution led to his dismissal on January 31, 1774. On July 26, 1775, the Second Continental Congress established the United States Post Office and named Franklin as the first United States postmaster general . He had been a postmaster for decades and was a natural choice for the position. He had just returned from England and was appointed chairman of a Committee of Investigation to establish

7828-620: The repeal of the unpopular Stamp Act by the British Parliament. An accomplished diplomat, he was widely admired as the first U.S. ambassador to France and was a major figure in the development of positive Franco–American relations . His efforts proved vital in securing French aid for the American Revolution . From 1785 to 1788, he served as President of Pennsylvania . At some points in his life, he owned slaves and ran "for sale" ads for slaves in his newspaper, but by

7931-731: The scepter from tyrants"). Benjamin Franklin's father, Josiah Franklin , was a tallow chandler , soaper , and candlemaker . Josiah Franklin was born at Ecton, Northamptonshire , England, on December 23, 1657, the son of Thomas Franklin, a blacksmith and farmer, and his wife, Jane White. Benjamin's father and all four of his grandparents were born in England. Josiah Franklin had a total of seventeen children with his two wives. He married his first wife, Anne Child, in about 1677 in Ecton and emigrated with her to Boston in 1683; they had three children before emigration and four after. Following her death, Josiah married Abiah Folger on July 9, 1689, in

8034-737: The site between the Free Library and the Rodin Museum opened in Spring 2012. The Parkway has been used for several subsequent editions of the Made in America Festival. The Parkway was also the site of Jay-Z 's Made in America Festival on September 1–2, 2012, featuring Jay-Z, Pearl Jam , Skrillex , Calvin Harris , and others. On September 26 and 27, 2015, Pope Francis visited Philadelphia for that year's World Meeting of Families ;

8137-917: The three River figures in the Swann Memorial Fountain by Alexander Stirling Calder , Shakespeare Memorial also by Calder, Monument to Six Million Jewish Martyrs by Nathan Rapoport at the Horwitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza , Joseph Leidy by Samuel Murray , Aero Memorial by Paul Manship , General Galusha Pennypacker by Charles Grafly and Albert Laessle , Jesus Breaking Bread by Walter Erlebacher , All Wars Colored Soldiers and Sailors Memorial by J. Otto Schweizer , Thaddeus Kosciuszko by Robert Aitken , Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Memorial by Hermon Atkins MacNeil , Kopernik by Dudley Vaill Talcott , Joan of Arc by Emmanuel Fremiet , Washington Monument by Rudolf Siemering , and

8240-470: The two routes were switched onto their current alignments. I-676 in New Jersey was completed between I-76 and Morgan Boulevard by 1960 and north of there to downtown Camden by the 1980s. The Vine Street Expressway was opened from the Schuylkill Expressway to 18th Street by 1960 and east of there to I-95 on January 10, 1991, despite opposition from the adjacent community and other obstacles to construction. There are grade-level intersections with traffic signals in

8343-471: The useless visitors who waste her valuable time, is related to the women who address Mr. Spectator. The Busy-Body himself is a true Censor Morum, as Isaac Bickerstaff had been in the Tatler . And a number of the fictitious characters, Ridentius, Eugenius, Cato, and Cretico, represent traditional 18th-century classicism. Even this Franklin could use for contemporary satire, since Cretico, the "sowre Philosopher,"

8446-571: The west of Conrail Shared Assets Operations (CSAO)'s Vineland Secondary railroad line and the PATCO Speedline. The road heads southwest on a viaduct over neighborhoods before the interchange with CR 607 (Kaighns Avenue) and Atlantic Avenue. I-676 turns south at this junction, crossing over the Vineland Secondary. The highway continues south and passes over CSAO's Beesleys Point Secondary railroad line before it comes to

8549-404: The whole. This did not suffice, however. Franklin conceived the idea of a subscription library , which would pool the funds of the members to buy books for all to read. This was the birth of the Library Company of Philadelphia , whose charter he composed in 1731. Upon Denham's death, Franklin returned to his former trade. In 1728, he set up a printing house in partnership with Hugh Meredith ;

8652-579: The widow, Elizabeth Timothy , took over and made it a success. She was one of the colonial era's first woman printers. For three decades Franklin maintained a close business relationship with her and her son Peter Timothy , who took over the South Carolina Gazette in 1746. The Gazette was impartial in political debates, while creating the opportunity for public debate, which encouraged others to challenge authority. Timothy avoided blandness and crude bias and, after 1765, increasingly took

8755-564: Was a discussion group for issues of the day; it subsequently gave rise to many organizations in Philadelphia. The Junto was modeled after English coffeehouses that Franklin knew well and which had become the center of the spread of Enlightenment ideas in Britain. Reading was a great pastime of the Junto, but books were rare and expensive. The members created a library, initially assembled from their own books, after Franklin wrote: A proposition

8858-552: Was a rare political miscalculation, however: Pennsylvanians worried that such a move would endanger their political and religious freedoms. Because of these fears and because of political attacks on his character, Franklin lost his seat in the October 1764 Assembly elections. The anti-proprietary party dispatched him to England again to continue the struggle against the Penn family proprietorship. During this trip, events drastically changed

8961-558: Was approved in 1986 on the Vine Street Expressway from 18th Street to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, with no provisions for elevated connections between the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and the Vine Street Expressway to avoid disturbing Franklin Square. This portion of the Vine Street Expressway opened to traffic on January 10, 1991, completing I-676. On April 14, 2015, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) began work to rebuild seven existing overpasses on

9064-563: Was awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree from the College of William & Mary . Later in 1756, Franklin organized the Pennsylvania Militia . He used Tun Tavern as a gathering place to recruit a regiment of soldiers to go into battle against the Native American uprisings that beset the American colonies. Well known as a printer and publisher, Franklin was appointed postmaster of Philadelphia in 1737, holding

9167-429: Was born in October 1732 and died of smallpox in 1736. Their daughter, Sarah "Sally" Franklin , was born in 1743 and eventually married Richard Bache . Deborah's fear of the sea meant that she never accompanied Franklin on any of his extended trips to Europe; another possible reason why they spent much time apart is that he may have blamed her for possibly preventing their son Francis from being inoculated against

9270-445: Was born on February 22, 1730, but his mother's identity is unknown. He was educated in Philadelphia and beginning at about age 30 studied law in London in the early 1760s. William himself fathered an illegitimate son, William Temple Franklin , born on the same day and month: February 22, 1760. The boy's mother was never identified, and he was placed in foster care. In 1762, the elder William Franklin married Elizabeth Downes, daughter of

9373-427: Was completed by the 1980s. There were several challenges in building the Vine Street Expressway between 18th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. The road was to run through developed areas of Philadelphia, intersecting several streets and railroad lines. The Chinatown community organized in opposition to the highway construction through their neighborhood. In addition, the route was to run through Franklin Square,

9476-477: Was created in the 1950s, the Vine Street Expressway, Benjamin Franklin Bridge, and part of the North–South Freeway were to become a part of it. In New Jersey, this Interstate was initially designated as FAI Corridor 109. In 1958, this freeway was initially planned as I-895 and I-380 before the American Association of State Highway Officials designated it as a part of I-80S. Meanwhile, I-680

9579-501: Was designated along the present-day Schuylkill Expressway between the Vine Street Expressway and the Walt Whitman Bridge. By 1960, the Vine Street Expressway had been completed between the Schuylkill Expressway and 18th Street. The portion of I-80S in New Jersey on the North–South Freeway had opened south of Morgan Boulevard by this time. On April 16, 1963, Pennsylvania wanted to renumber its Interstate numbers. Part of this

9682-533: Was irregular. Franklin opened the first post office to offer regular, monthly mail in Halifax on December 9, 1755. Meantime, Hunter became postal administrator in Williamsburg, Virginia , and oversaw areas south of Annapolis, Maryland . Franklin reorganized the service's accounting system and improved speed of delivery between Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. By 1761, efficiencies led to the first profits for

9785-440: Was made by me that since our books were often referr'd to in our disquisitions upon the inquiries, it might be convenient for us to have them altogether where we met, that upon occasion they might be consulted; and by thus clubbing our books to a common library, we should, while we lik'd to keep them together, have each of us the advantage of using the books of all the other members, which would be nearly as beneficial as if each owned

9888-611: Was no secret that he was the author, his Richard Saunders character repeatedly denied it. "Poor Richard's Proverbs," adages from this almanac, such as "A penny saved is twopence dear" (often misquoted as "A penny saved is a penny earned") and "Fish and visitors stink in three days," remain common quotations in the modern world. Wisdom in folk society meant the ability to provide an apt adage for any occasion, and his readers became well prepared. He sold about ten thousand copies per year—it became an institution. In 1741, Franklin began publishing The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle for all

9991-541: Was opened on July 1, 1926, and was designated to carry US 30 across the Delaware River. A parkway called the Camden–Atlantic City Parkway was planned in 1932 to connect the Benjamin Franklin Bridge southeast to Atlantic City ; this was never built. After World War II , freeway connections were planned on both sides of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. In Philadelphia, the Vine Street Expressway

10094-694: Was placed under house arrest at his home in Perth Amboy for six months. After the Declaration of Independence , he was formally taken into custody by order of the Provincial Congress of New Jersey , an entity which he refused to recognize, regarding it as an "illegal assembly." He was incarcerated in Connecticut for two years, in Wallingford and Middletown , and, after being caught surreptitiously engaging Americans into supporting

10197-484: Was planned to run along the Vine Street corridor to the present-day Schuylkill Expressway in 1945. The North–South Freeway was proposed in New Jersey as a connection from the bridge south along the Route 42 corridor. In 1950, the city of Philadelphia began planning the construction of the Vine Street Expressway, which would run along a depressed alignment through the city. When the Interstate Highway System

10300-534: Was selected as a councilman; in June 1749, he became a justice of the peace for Philadelphia; and in 1751, he was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly. On August 10, 1753, he was appointed deputy postmaster-general of British North America . His service in domestic politics included reforming the postal system, with mail sent out every week. In 1751, Franklin and Thomas Bond obtained a charter from

10403-510: Was the "Association Battery" or "Grand Battery" of 50 guns. In 1747, Franklin (already a very wealthy man) retired from printing and went into other businesses. He formed a partnership with his foreman, David Hall , which provided Franklin with half of the shop's profits for 18 years. This lucrative business arrangement provided leisure time for study, and in a few years he had made many new discoveries. Franklin became involved in Philadelphia politics and rapidly progressed. In October 1748, he

10506-467: Was the first secretary of the American Philosophical Society and was elected its president in 1769. He was appointed deputy postmaster-general for the British colonies in 1753, which enabled him to set up the first national communications network. He was active in community affairs and colonial and state politics, as well as national and international affairs. Franklin became a hero in America when, as an agent in London for several colonies, he spearheaded

10609-508: Was the renumbering from I-80S into I-76 and all of its auxiliary routes into I-X76. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) approved the request on February 26, 1964. As a result, I-80S became I-76 and I-680 became I-676. In 1972, the I-76 and the I-676 designations were switched onto their current routes. The remainder of the New Jersey portion of I-676 between Morgan Boulevard and US 30

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