Benjamin Franklin, 1706–1790 | Born Boston, Massachusetts | Joseph Siffred Duplessis (1725–1802) | Oil on canvas, c. 1785 | Gift of the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Benjamin Franklin was the most famous American in the world in his day. He was renowned for his scientific accomplishments as much as for his political and diplomatic triumphs. Known as a “natural
