Kevin Gillis, age 13, of New Bedford, Mass., for his question:

WHY IS BENJAMIN FRANKLIN REMEMBERED?

Benjamin Franklin is remembered as one of the greatest statesmen the United States ever had. He was a printer, author, diplomat, philosopher and scientist whose many contributions to the cause of the American Revolution give him a very high rank in history.

Franklin was born in Boston in 1706. His father, Josiah Franklin, was a candlemaker who had 17 children. Benjamin was the 15th child and the 10th son. His mother was his father's second wife.

Benjamin was taken into his father's business but at the age of 13 was apprenticed to his brother James who had recently returned from England with a new printing press. Benjamim learned the printing trade, devoting his spare time to the advancement of his education. He read everything he could find.

In 1721 brother James established the New England Courant and Benjamin, then 15, delivered newspapers by day and composed articles at night. These articles, published anonymously, won wide notice and acclaim for their pithy observations of the current scene.

Later Benjamin moved to Philadelphia and worked at his trade and made many friends. One of them, the provincial governor of Pennsylvania persuaded Franklin to go to London to complete his training as a printer and to purchase the equipment needed to start his own printing establishment in Philadelphia. Then only 18 years old, Franklin got a job at the foremost printing houses in London and soon won the recognition of many important publishing people.

Back in Philadelphia in 1729 at the age of 23, Franklin bought the Pennsylvania Gazette and turned it into an entertaining and informative publication.

For the next 20 years Franklin had a colorful and successful career in publishing and writing and as a clerk with the Pennsylvania General Assembly. He was elected to the Assembly in 1750 and appointed postmaster general for the colonies in 1753.

Franklin invented the lightning rod and developed important explanations of the workings of electricity. For this he received honorary degrees from the University of Saint Andrews and the University of Oxford.

Franklin's publication in 1749 of "Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania" led to the establishment in 1751 of the academy that later became the University of Pennsylvania. His suggested curriculum was a departure from the program of classical studies then in vogue.

During the American Revolution, Franklin played many important parts. He was a member of the convention that drew up the U.S. Constitution.

Franklin's most notable service to his country was the result of his great skill in diplomacy. To his common sense, wisdom, wit and industry, he joined great firmness of purpose, matchless tact and broad tolerance. He was a brilliant conversationalist and a sympathetic listener. Franklin died in 1790, at the age of 84.