According to Wikipedia, the first kites were invented in China in the 5th Century BC.
So, when Ben Franklin flew his kite it was not the kite that was famous but what he discovered.
Tradition says that on June 10, 1752 Benjamin Franklin flew his kite and demonstrated the electrical nature of lightning.
But maybe he did or maybe he didn't make the discovery --
Because
According to Wikipedia "In 1750 Benjamin Franklin published a proposal for an experiment to prove that lightning was caused by electricity by flying a kite in a storm that appeared capable of becoming a lightning storm. "
"It is not known whether Franklin ever performed his experiment,"
"but on May 10, 1752, Thomas-François Dalibard of France conducted a similar experiment using a 40 feet (12 m) iron rod instead of a kite and extracted electrical sparks from a cloud."
So, perhaps Franklin confirmed the results of Dalibard --
or more likely, Franklin didn't know that Dalibard had already done it a month earlier.
After all they were an ocean apart and news in those days didn't travel fast.
Anyway, according to tradition, it was on this day in 1752 (or maybe a month earlier) when it was discovered that lightning was caused by electricity.
Just thought you would want to know.
We are providing a link for more details about this and other things that Benjamin Franklin did (Hint: Scroll down to the section titled "Inventions and scientific inquiries")
HERE'S THE LINK to Benjamin Franklin
