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Benjamin Franklin was a man of many talents, and he is credited with eight major inventions during his lifetime. He was also a "printer, a postmaster, an ambassador, an author, a scientist, and a Founding Father." One of those inventions was announced today, 284 years ago, on June 11, 2026.
It was called the Franklin stove, and it changed lives at the time.
In colonial America, "homes were warmed by a fireplace," U.S. History.org reported. Franklin's new invention gave families another way to heat their homes, and it was a more effective and affordable one.
The Franklin Stove Was a Metal-Lined Fireplace
The Franklin stove, invented in 1742, "is a metal-lined fireplace that stands in the middle of a room. It has rear baffles for improved airflow," explained U.S. History.org.
It had two distinct advantages over a fireplace.
"It provides more heat and less smoke than an open fireplace and uses less wood," U.S. History.org reported. "This cast-iron furnace would radiate heat from the middle of the room in all directions, and the iron walls even absorbed heat, providing warmth to the room long after the fire went out."
The Franklin Institute further explained: "In 1742, Franklin—perhaps fed up with the cold Pennsylvania winters—invented a better way to heat rooms. The Franklin stove, as it came to be called, was a metal-lined fireplace designed to stand a few inches away from the chimney. A hollow baffle at the rear let the heat from the fire mix with the air more quickly, and an inverted siphon helped to extract more heat. His invention also produced less smoke than a traditional fireplace, making it that much more desirable."
According to the U.S. History.org site, Franklin wrote about the invention in his autobiography, writing, in part, "In Order of Time I should have mentioned before, that having in 1742 invented an open Stove, for the better warming of Rooms and at the same time saving Fuel, as the fresh Air admitted was warmed in Entring, I made a Present of the Model to Mr. Robert Grace, one of my early Friends, who having an Iron Furnace, found the Casting of the Plates for these Stoves a profitable Thing, as they were growing in Demand."
Benjamin Franklin's Inventions Range From the Lightning Rod to Bifocals
The Franklin stove makes the list of Franklin's eight major inventions, as described by Visit Philadelphia. What are the others?
- Swim fins (1717)
- Franklin/Pennsylvania stove (1741)
- Lightning rod (1750)
- Flexible catheter (1752)
- 24-hour, three-wheel clock that was much simpler than other designs of the day (1757)
- Glass armonica, a simple musical instrument made of spinning glass (1762)
- Bifocals (1784)
- Long arm (extension arm) to reach high books (1786)
He is also credited with two major discoveries:
- "Ways to keep streets cleaner and deal with waste management." (1750s)
- "That electricity existed in storm clouds, in the form of lightning." (1752)
Franklin is further credited with coming up with the idea of Daylight Savings Time, suggesting the Colonies join together, improving street lights, founding the first volunteer fire department in America and first public hospital, and creating the first political cartoon in the U.S., according to Visit Philadelphia.
