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Certificate of Merit Recipients 2002
Education is one of the most critical and rewarding gifts we can give ourselves, and therefore, I feel it is crucial that I recognize those students who have demonstrated their ability to succeed in any situation. Every year, I award the Congressional Certificate of Merit to outstanding high school students in the First Congressional District of New Mexico. Here are the 2002 winners... |
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| It`s Electric! |
On June 15, 1752, Benjamin Franklin conducted his famous kite and key experiment, thus demonstrating that lightning is a form of electricity. Franklin constructed a kite and then flew it during a storm, allowing the string to become wet and act as a conductor. While holding the kite by a dry silk cord, he placed his hand near a metal key attached to the string, and a spark jumped. Negative electric charge gathered by the kite from the storm clouds had flowed down the string to the key, then jumped across the air gap to Franklin’s body, attracted by the his strong positive charge. This experiment showed that lightning was a form of static electricity.
Scientist and Inventor
Born in 1706, Franklin was already a well-known scientist and inventor at the time of this experiment. He founded the American Philosophical Society, an organization dedicated to the promotion of science in 1743, and invented the Franklin stove one year later, an appliance that produced greater heat with reduced fuel consumption. 1747 saw the advent of his electrical experiments, and in addition to demonstrating that lightning is an electrical phenomenon, Franklin invented the lightning rod and offered the “one-fluid” theory to explain two types of electricity, positive and negative. He received honorary degrees from the University of Saint Andrews and the University of Oxford in appreciation of the importance of his work.
Forming the United States
However, Franklin was much more than a scientist. His Poor Richard’s Almanac, published in 1732, under the pen name Richard Saunders, gained a wide audience and was full of practical wisdom that still holds weight in our society today. Also, he was elected a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1750, was active in the French and Indian war, and traveled to England as the chief representative of the American colonies. When the Revolutionary War broke out, he was elected a member of the Second Continental Congress and chosen as a member of the committee to draft the Declaration of Independence. His diplomatic skills won the support of France on the side of America and procured their military assistance. Franklin also was appointed to conduct the treaty of peace with Great Britain that ended the Revolutionary War.
Setting America on her Feet
After the war, Franklin became
a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention and was instrumental not only in writing the document, but in seeing that it was approved and ratified by the states. He was opposed to the allowance of slavery granted in the Constitution, and one of his last public acts was to sign to petition to the U.S. Congress, on February 12, 1790, encouraging the abolition of slavery and suppression of the slave trade. He died two months later on April 17, at 84 years of age. His intelligence, wisdom, and common sense not only made him a notable contributor to science, but were invaluable in forming and shaping the United States and our national character. |
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