Benjamin Franklin was an American polymath active as a physicist, philosopher, statesman and inventor who was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was a drafter and signer of the Declaration of Independence, and the first postmaster general. January 17, 1706 – April 17, 1790; died at 84. Alive at the same time as Isaac Newton, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Ludwig van Beethoven, Immanuel Kant, and Napoleon. Wiki link