Q 01/05

In which city was Benjamin Franklin born in 1706?

A) Philadelphia

B) New York

C) Newport

D) Boston

Answer · why

D) Boston

He was born on Milk Street and baptised at the Old South Meeting House; Philadelphia only came later, when he ran away there.

Q 02/05

What trade did Franklin's father Josiah practise?

A) Blacksmith and farrier

B) Shipwright

C) Cooper and brewer

D) Candle and soap maker

Answer · why

D) Candle and soap maker

Josiah had seventeen children by two wives; Benjamin was his fifteenth child and tenth and last son.

Q 03/05

At 12, Franklin was apprenticed to his brother James in which trade?

A) Silversmithing

B) Bookbinding

C) Printing

D) Tailoring

Answer · why

C) Printing

James founded the New-England Courant, the town's third newspaper, and refused to print anything his little brother wrote.

Q 04/05

Under what pen name did the teenage Franklin get letters published in his brother's newspaper?

A) Poor Richard

B) Anthony Afterwit

C) Busy-Body

D) Silence Dogood

Answer · why

D) Silence Dogood

He posed as a middle-aged widow and slipped 14 letters under the print-shop door at night; he was 16.

Q 05/05

How old was Franklin when he ran away from his apprenticeship to Philadelphia?

A) 17

B) 12

C) 15

D) 21

Answer · why

A) 17

Leaving without his brother's permission technically made him a fugitive.