Ben Franklin’s Scientific Achievements

Season 14 Episode 1

About the Episode

America’s Founding Father Benjamin Franklin was intellectually curious about the world and he operated in it as a gentlemanly scientist. He pursued experiments related to electricity, he looked at better ways to make clocks and improve bifocal lenses. In 1752, he had won world-wide fame when he proved that lightening was not an act of God but in fact electricity.

Aired: | Expires: | Runtime: 3m 23s

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Extras

Ascending the Summit of Mt. Phu Kao

An archaeological team recreates the ascent that Khmer kings would have made up the holy mountain.

2:08
Signs of Human Habitation in Kurukshetra

Archaeologists dig through layers of earth in search of evidence of pre-Angkorian habitation.

2:11
Cymbal Found at Ancient Khmer Temple Site

Archaeologists find a small cymbal dating back to the 7th century.

1:30
A Gruesome Discovery in Rural Poland

In 2022, a team of archaeologists unearthed a strange burial in the Polish village of Pień.

2:50
Reconstructing the Face of a 17-Century Woman

A forensic artist reconstructs the face of a woman buried as a vampire in 17-century Poland.

1:44
Radar Technologies Aid in Search for Civil War Burial Site

A team searches for the remains of the soldiers slain in the Simpsonville Massacre.

2:48
Remembering the Fallen Soldiers of the Simpsonville Massacre

The search for the remains of 5th U.S. Colored Cavalry in Kentucky begins.

2:17
How Technology Revived Seneca the Elder

Researcher Valeria Piano discovers long-lost history of Rome written by Seneca the Elder.

2:53
Decoding the Herculaneum Scrolls: AI Meets Ancient Texts

Artificial intelligence is used to find out what some carbonized Herculaneum scrolls say.

3:34
Another Composer in the Mozart Family?

Letters between siblings Wolfgang and Maria Anna Mozart suggest she, too, composed music.

2:25