BEN FRANKLIN Plans set for 300th birthday party in Philadelphia

Swim fins and bifocals were among the many common items he invented.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Philadelphia is making plans to honor an 18th-century overachiever -- Benjamin Franklin -- with a 21st-century party.
Five years in the making, the tricentennial celebration of Franklin's birth will mostly unfold during 2006, but a few events are already under way. Its centerpiece will be a multimillion-dollar touring exhibition, "Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World," opening at the National Constitution Center here on Dec. 15. The show will remain in Philadelphia until April 30, 2006, and then head to St. Louis, Houston, Denver and Atlanta, before wrapping up in Paris in early 2008.
Included are more than 250 artifacts, from Franklin's chess set to a lightning rod, some never before on public display and gathered from descendants of Franklin and institutions throughout the United States and Europe.
"We're introducing the many faces of Franklin into the 21st century," said historian Rosalind Remer, executive director of the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary, a federally commissioned consortium organizing the events.
The consortium is comprised of five Philadelphia institutions that Franklin helped create or that have other ties.
This year's events include the Franklin Institute Science Museum's permanent exhibit, "Franklin...He's Electric!;" the Please Touch Museum's "Celebrate Stories: Franklin as Postmaster," a May program in which children can decorate stamps and write letters with ink quills; and a "Science in the Summer" program at public libraries throughout June featuring experiments with magnets and electricity.
R & eacute;sum & eacute; items
The events all highlight Franklin's astonishing r & eacute;sum & eacute; -- printer, author, publisher, statesman, environmentalist, inventor, scientist, civil servant, bookseller, progressive thinker and Founding Father.
A list of his civic-minded accomplishments and inventions seems remarkably contemporary.
He worried about public health and safety, organizing the Pennsylvania Hospital and Philadelphia's first firefighting company.
He invented bifocals, swim fins and a heat-efficient stove -- the Franklin stove.
And many of the sayings originally printed in his annual publication, "Poor Richard's Almanack," remain well-known and sound as cleverly worded as the tagline for a modern TV commercial -- phrases like "A penny saved is a penny earned," "Fish and visitors stink after three days," and "Haste makes waste."
Franklin was born Jan. 6, 1706. But in 1752, when the old Julian calendar was replaced with the Gregorian calendar by Britain and its colonies, time skipped ahead 11 days -- making the old Jan. 6 the new Jan. 17.
What's planned
Organizers have planned a citywide party on Franklin's "new" birthday, complete with cake and followed by an evening gala.
Franklin was born in Boston, but since he moved to Philadelphia as a teenager, most of his contributions are associated with his adopted city.
The months of events also will include a specially commissioned Franklin-inspired piece by the Philadelphia Orchestra, a revival of the Pennsylvania Ballet's "Franklin Court" and new Ben-themed works by about 20 theaters, galleries and other cultural institutions.
Additional exhibits are planned at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Franklin Institute Science Museum, the Library Company of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania -- the latter two institutions having been founded by "Poor Richard" himself.
The tercentenary also will feature walking tours following in Franklin's footsteps through the streets of Old City where he lived, worked, socialized, worshipped and is buried. Restaurants are also getting in on the act with special menus in honor of the celebrated gastronome and oenophile.
Organizers also hope that the events will move public perception beyond the kite-and-key pop-culture caricature of Franklin and provide a fresh focus on his many contributions to society.
"His greatest invention of all was himself," said Richard Stengel, president and chief executive of the National Constitution Center. "He created the template for what it means to be an American."
XFor more information, go to www.benfranklin300.org and click on "Participate" for a month-by-month calendar of events, or call (215) 557-0733. Most events take place in 2006 but there are some exhibits and lectures scheduled for this year. At www.ushistory.org/franklin, click on "Quick biography" for an overview of Franklin's life and achievements.
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