Benjamin Franklin credited libraries with turning common tradesmen into smart citizens. Especially on rainy days. Ben said it this way: “our people having no publik amusements to divert their attention to study, became better acquainted with books.” They didn’t have anything else to do on days with bad weather, rainy days.
Franklin began the first circulation public library in 1731 in Philadelphia, actually in all of North America. It soon caught on. Similar libraries were formed by other do good citizens in all the colonies.
Hey, how would you like to have been in a service club with our Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin? Wouldn’t that have been great? He was a learned man, and you could learn much from him and his experience.
Thomas Jefferson should truly be remembered and honored today. What did he accomplish? I’ll just mention a few here. He graduated from William and Mary College and then studied law for 5 years under George Wythe, the first law professor in Virginia.
The Constitution was undeniably the idea, design, and proposal of James Madison, but so also was the Bill of Rights. The first 10 Amendments to the Constitution. Once the Constitution was ratified and signed by the 55 Representatives of the States in Congress, it had to be approved by each of the States individually.
On one occasion I was speaking to about 300 people at a convention in Provo, Utah. My topic was “The Pursuit of Happiness—Thomas Jefferson.” I had 55 minutes to tell about Thomas Jefferson’s life and accomplishments. Needless to say, I only got to the highlights.
“Oh, he’s a politician, you can’t believe anything he says!”