Philly’s getting ready to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Benjamin Franklin’s in a big way. Franklin will turn 300 on January 17th, 2006 and will be the first of the framers to reach that landmark age.

For this year’s “One Book, One Philadelphia” there will actually be three books. All about Ben.

The National Constitution Center will be running an exhibit about him from December 15th, 2005 until April 30, 2006.

There is even a special beer commemorating him.

A young Franklin was “re-welcomed” to Philadelphia on Sunday, October 9th, kicking off the months long celebration.

The event, free and open to the public on Market Street in Old City, marks the start of the city’s 300th-birthday tribute to the inventor and statesman, whose public-spirited innovations make him one of the leading citizens of all time.
“We thought it would be fun to re-welcome him to Philadelphia,” said Rosalind Remer, executive director of the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary, which is overseeing the celebration. “We wanted to start with an event that would be all-encompassing, to set the scene.”

Welcome back Ben! I wonder what you’d think of the city now?