Today, Benjamin Franklin is recognized as one of America's Founding Fathers, a great inventor, diplomat, and politician. But in in his lifetime, Benjamin Franklin was known for something entirely different: carefully controlled flatulence.

Indeed, it was his uncanny ability to control not only the length of his releases, but their pitch and volume that made him famous in the taverns and concert halls of Philadelphia. Franklin's amusing commentaries on the human digestive system, published in the Pennsylvania Gazette under the pseudonym Flautus Amplus, attracted the attention of the Freemasons, who in turn introduced him to national politics.

As a delegate to the Second Continental Congress, Franklin often used his unique ability to end long debates. Thomas Jefferson once wrote: "From the Pennsylvanian came a statement most profound / did conclude the debate with nary a sound." As ambassador to France, Franklin secured critical military support by performing a perfect rendition of "God Save the King" for the French court.

After a lifetime of generous public service, Franklin retired to seaside villa in Carmel, California, where he composed two symphonies for tuba and winds.