Bolt of Fate: Benjamin Franklin & His Electric Kite Hoax

Was Ben Franklin's famous electric kite experiment a hoax? And did it determine the course of the Amer. Revolution (AR)? Franklin flew a kite during a thunderstorm in the summer of 1752. The kite conducted elec. & threw a spark from a key attached to the kite's string, thus proving that lightning & elec. were one. Franklin's kite experiment was an internat. event & the Franklin that it presented to the world became the Franklin of myth. He charmed the French & became a celebrity when he traveled there during the AR, & the French powers were cajoled into joining us in our fight against the Brit. Franklin was an enthusiastic hoaxer who launched a number of pranks & deceptions. With the electric kite, he managed the greatest hoax of them all -- the trick that may have won the AR.