Snapshot · The Rest Is History
Franklin's father Josiah emigrated to Boston in 1683, becoming a tallow chandler — rendering animal fat into candles and soap — to support his family and practise his Puritan faith freely.
Where this was said
At 12:36 · chapter starts 9:30
The hosts pose a genuinely interesting question: would Franklin have called himself an American? For much of his life, he would not. He spent a third of his life in Britain, living in London when he wrote the mastiff-lion parable — which was published in a London newspaper and intended not as a call for independence but as a warning from a loyal subject [1] — Tom Holland "Franklin spent a third of his life in Britain, attended George III's coronation, and called the king 'the most amiable of kings.' He was no…" 09:25 . He had served as Washington's de facto wagon master in the Seven Years' War without resentment toward Britain, admired the British system, and called George III the best of kings. This makes his eventual conversion to the revolutionary cause not a natural trajectory but a remarkable personal rupture, and Tom argues it mirrors the broader transformation of loyal British colonies into independent states.
Franklin spent approximately a third of his life in Britain, living for 16 years between 1757 and 1775 in a house just off what is now Trafalgar Square in London.
At the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Franklin was 81 years old — the oldest delegate by 15 years and twice the average age of attendees.
Joel de la Garza noted that the CISO role is a relatively recent invention, with Steve Katz widely credited as the first-ever CISO.
Superficial adoption of electricity gave factories only 6% efficiency gains; fully redesigning factories around it delivered a 3x productivity improvement that powered 20th-century US growth.
Harold Ramis recounted that during Caddyshack filming, storms kept the cast cooped up in a Florida hotel for days, during which they partied and did drugs all day and night.
In the 1820s, China accounted for 25% of global economic output, making it the world's largest economic machine — a historical precedent for its current AI superpower ambitions.
66 Americans held hostage at the US Embassy in Iran were released after 444 days, within hours of Reagan's inauguration.
In the first round of the secret arms deal, 508 TOW missiles were transferred from Israel to Iran in exchange for hostage releases.
America secretly transferred 2,000 missiles and missile parts to Iran across 8 separate shipments over just over a year.
Despite all the missile sales, only 3 of the 7 American hostages held by Lebanese terrorists were ultimately released.
The CIA supply plane that blew open the scandal was flying at only 2,500 feet in broad daylight when it was shot down on October 5, 1986.
We use essential and analytics cookies to run Vuci. To understand how the site is used: Privacy Policy.
Install Vuci on your phone
Add it to your home screen for a faster, app-like experience.
Install Vuci on your phone
Tap the Share button, then “Add to Home Screen”.
A new version is available
Reload to get the latest Vuci.