Benjamin Franklin was many things.
Publisher. Politician. Fart Connoisseur.
He was also a futurist. For example, Franklin once mused wistfully of his desire to be preserved in a cask of wine, so that he might someday be revived in the far future:
I wish it were possible... to invent a method of embalming drowned persons, in such a manner that they might be recalled to life at any period, however distant; for having a very ardent desire to see and observe the state of America a hundred years hence, I should prefer to an ordinary death, being immersed with a few friends in a cask of Madeira, until that time, then to be recalled to life by the solar warmth of my dear country! But... in all probability, we live in a century too little advanced, and too near the infancy of science, to see such an art brought in our time to its perfection... (Labaree and Bell, 1956)
Sadly, Franklin was not bottled for future posterity to revive.
However, Franklin did establish a generous gift that lasted well beyond his life.
In his will, Benjamin Franklin bequeathed 1000 pounds sterling (~4000 in 2020 dollars) to the cities of Boston and Philadelphia.
He mandated that for the first 100 years, each of the 1000 pounds sterling would accrue interest derived from 5% loans to “artificers” aka mechanics who met the following criteria:
* male
* married
* completed an apprenticeship
* under the age of 25.
At the end of the 100 years, the cities could take 75 percent of the principal and spend it on public works.
The remaining 25 percent would be left until another century had passed, at which point the cities and their respective states could spend the funds in whatever way they wished.
By 1990—200 years after Franklin’s death on April 17, 1990—the trust funds for Philadelphia and Boston had grown to $2 million and $4.5 million respectively.
In Philadelphia, $520,000 was spent on grants for high school students looking to learn a trade, and $1.5 million on the Franklin Institute museum.
In Boston, $4.5 million was granted Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology. (Rossen, 2020)
Franklin’s Trusts inspired Jonathan Holdeen to establish long-term trusts for an even more ambitious goal: to eliminate taxes entirely for the citizens of Philadelphia.
(Labaree and Bell, 1956) - [From Mr. Franklin, A Selection from His Personal Letters, by L. W. Labaree and W. J. Bell, Jr. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1956), pp. 27-29.]
(Rosen, 2020) -
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/627475/200-year-old-gift-from-benjamin-franklin-to-boston-and-philadelphia