Happy Birthday today to THE MAN - Benjamin Franklin. Besides being a Pennsylvania icon, I don't have to tell you why Ben was awesome - founding father, inventor, pressman, French hooker enthusiast... But did you know Franklin was also a musician? Of course, in true Ben Franklin style, he just went ahead and invented his own instrument to play:
The Armonica, or Glass Harmonica, is an instrument unlike any other. It works on the same principle as running your finger along the rim of a wine glass - except the glasses are stacked along a rotating spit. It creates an otherworldly tone that no other instrument really duplicates:
Just imagine Ben Franklin sitting in the parlor entertaining heads of state (and French hookers) with a rousing armonica ditty. Happy Birthday, Ben!
