In honor of Benjamin Franklin's 307th birthday, curator Deborah Warner shares an invention Franklin isn't known for—and, no, there's no kite involved. "A Silver Teapot Must Have A Wooden Handle." Benjamin Franklin shared this observation with Cadwallader Colden, in December 1753, thus initiating a scientific investigation of a fact well known to silversmiths who made teapots of this sort, to wealthy women who poured tea from them, and to house maids who filled them with hot water.
