Ben Franklin has the distinction of many "firsts": He invented the lightning rod, the Franklin stove, bifocals, the catheter, swim fins and the odometer. He started the first public library, the first volunteer fire company, the first American fire insurance company, the first hospital and was the first postmaster general. Chess.com also reminds us that Franklin was also the first known chess player as well as the first chess author in America. Here again to tell us the story is the Jack Miller Center's Editorial Officer and historian, Elliott Drago.
