Celebrating Benjamin Franklin’s 319th Birthday – Jan 17

Posted by Celebration! of Benjamin Franklin Founder on January 7, 2025

The 319-year-old Philadelphian tradition of celebrating the birthday of Benjamin Franklin is back on Friday, January 17, 2025, 10:00am-1:30pm. It is a three-part event featuring: a free morning panel; a free procession to Franklin’s Grave; a ticketed luncheon honoring NASA’s Dr. John C. Mather.

The free morning seminar from 9-11am (at the American Philosophical Society (APS), Benjamin Franklin Hall, 427 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106) will be moderated by Dr. Derrick Pitts, Chief Astronomer at The Franklin Institute Science Museum, with panelists: Dr. Emily A. Margolis Curator of Contemporary Spaceflight, Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum; Dr. Mariangela Bernardi Professor, University of Pennsylvania; and Dr. Tess Lavezzi Light, Electromagnetic Sciences and Cognitive Space Group, Intelligence and Space Research, Los Alamos National Laboratory. Shane’s Confectionary will generously provide sweet treats.

The seminar will be followed from 11:15am-12pm by a lively procession North on 5th street from Chestnut to Arch to Franklin’s gravesite at Christ Church, featuring music, a fire engine, banners, and flags.

At 12:15pm, the luncheon at the Museum of the American Revolution will feature Dr. Mather, a Senior Scientist, cosmology, at NASA who received a Nobel Prize in Physics in 2006, and has been Senior Project Scientist for the Webb Space Telescope. During this paid luncheon he will give a talk called, “Opening New Worlds with the James Webb Space Telescope”, and receive the 2025 Franklin Founder Award. Another treat: Franklin Fountain will provide birthday cake ice cream for dessert.

No registration is required for the seminar and procession.

Tickets to the luncheon are available here.

For more information about the celebration is available here.