What is "franklin"

Franklin \Frank"lin\, n. [OE. frankelein; cf. LL. franchilanus. See Frank, a.] An English freeholder, or substantial householder. [Obs.]
--Chaucer.

The franklin, a small landholder of those days.
--Sir J. Stephen.

Middle English Frankeleyn, attested as a surname from late 12c., from Anglo-French fraunclein "freeholder, land-owner of free but not noble birth," from Old French franc "free" (see frank (adj.)); probably with the Germanic suffix also found in chamberlain.\n

\nThe Franklin stove (1787) so called because it was invented by U.S. scientist/politician Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790). In early 19c., lightning rods often were called Franklins from his famous experiments with lightning in the 1750s.

n. (qualifier: obsolete except historical) A freeholder, especially as belonging to a class of landowners in the 14th and 15th century ranking below the gentry.

Franklin may refer to:

• Benjamin Franklin, a Founding Father of the United States
• Franklin (class), a historic social class
• Franklin (given name)
• Franklin (surname)

The Franklin Automobile Company was an American manufacturer of automobiles in the United States between 1902 and 1934 in Syracuse, New York.

Herbert H. Franklin founded the H. H. Franklin Manufacturing Company in 1893 and, in 1901, teamed up with engineer John Wilkinson to develop an air-cooled engine. In 1902, the Franklin automobile was introduced. Because he was the primary investor, Franklin assumed control of the company, and named the auto manufacturing division Franklin Automobile Company. As president, he managed the company finances and business administration. Wilkinson was named chief engineer and granted control of the engineering and manufacturing operation.

Throughout its history, Franklin was a luxury brand and competed with other upscale automobiles of the day. As such, it fell victim to the Great Depression along with many luxury car manufacturers. The company sold about 150,000 cars over the course of more than 30 years in existence.

Franklin is a Canadian children's animated television series, based on the Franklin the Turtle books by Brenda Clark and Paulette Bourgeois. It was produced by Nelvana for Family Channel. It also aired on Treehouse TV in Canada and on Nickelodeon in the United States from 1997 to 2013. It has since been off the air and replaced with a new adaptation, Franklin and Friends. Re-runs of the original series continue to air in Israel on the channel "Hop!".

Franklin Armstrong is a character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, created by Charles M. Schulz. Introduced on July 31, 1968, Franklin was the first African-American character in the strip. He goes to school with Peppermint Patty and Marcie. In his first story arc, he met Charlie Brown when they were both at the beach. Franklin's father was a soldier fighting in Vietnam, to which Charlie Brown replied "My dad's a barber...he was in a war too, but I don't know which one." Franklin later paid Charlie Brown a visit and found some of Charlie Brown's other friends to be quite odd. His last appearance was in 1999, the year before Schulz's death.

Franklin is a lunar impact crater that is located in the northeast part of the visible Moon; it is named after Benjamin Franklin. To the north-northwest is the smaller crater Cepheus, and in the opposite direction to the southwest is the shallow Berzelius.

The rim of Franklin is generally circular, with a pair of outward bulges in the western wall. The inner wall is terraced, and there is a central peak at the midpoint of the floor. A narrow cleft runs to the west-southwest across the floor, passing to the north of the central peak.

Franklin is a stop on the Northeast Line (Route 202) of the CTrain light rail system in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The station opened on April 27, 1985 as part of the original Northeast line.

The station is located in the median of Memorial Drive, just West of the intersection with 28 Street SE. The station is 4.7 km (2.92 mi) from the City Hall Interlocking. Pedestrian bridges connect the station to either side of Memorial Drive. Stairs, escalators, as well as an elevator provide access down to the center-loading platform. The station serves residential neighbourhoods to the south ( Albert Park/Radisson Heights) and industrial areas to the north. 578 parking spaces are available for commuters.

As part of Calgary Transit's plan to operate 4-car trains by the end of 2014, all 3-car platforms are being extended. Franklin station also had new furnishings installed, in addition to a platform extension. Construction was completed in the late Summer/Fall of 2013.

In 2005, the station registered and average transit of 4,700 boardings per weekday.

The term franklin denotes a member of a social class or rank in England in the 12th to 15th centuries. In the period when Middle English was in use, a franklin was simply a freeman; that is, a man who was not a serf, in the feudal system under which people were tied to land which they did not own, in bondage to a member of the nobility who owned that land. The surname " Fry", derived from the Old English "frig" ("free born"), indicates a similar social origin.

The meaning of the word "franklin" evolved to mean a freeholder; that is, one who holds title to real property in fee simple. In the 14th and 15th centuries, franklin was "the designation of a class of landowners ranking next below the landed gentry".

With the definite end of Feudalism, this social class disappeared as a distinct entity, the legal provisions for "a free man" being applied to the general population. The memory of that class was preserved in the use of "Franklin" as a family name, the most well-known being US founding father Benjamin Franklin.

Franklin was a rural New Zealand parliamentary electorate. It existed from 1861 to 1996 during four periods.

Franklin is a masculine English given name. It is of English coming from the medieval English Frankeleyn, coming from the Anglo-Franco fraunclein. Its meaning is landowner of free but not noble origin.

Franklin is a surname, which may indicate that the ancestors of people so named may have belonged to the social class of that name in Medieval England. First record of the name is in Buckinghamshire. Notable people with the surname include:

• Franklin (baseball), baseball player
• A. B. Franklin (born 1948), member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
• Alex Franklin (born 1988), Puerto Rican basketball player
• Aretha Franklin (born 1942), soul and R&B singer
• Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), a Founding Father of the United States
• Benjamin Franklin (disambiguation), multiple people
• Bonnie Franklin (1944–2013), American actress
• Bruce Franklin (guitarist), American musician
• C. L. Franklin (1915-1984), Detroit, Michigan-based Baptist minister and civil rights activist
• Charles Samuel Franklin (1879–1964), British radio pioneer
• Dwight Franklin (1888–1971), American artist, taxidermist and set designer
• Edward C. Franklin (1928–1982), American pioneering immunologist and physician
• Frederic Franklin (1914–2013), British-American ballet dancer and director
• Frederick Franklin (1840–1873), United States Navy sailor
• H. Bruce Franklin (1934-), American cultural historian
• Hugh Franklin (actor) (1916–1986), American actor
• Hugh Franklin (suffragist) (1889-1962), British political activist
• Jane Franklin (1791-1875), wife of John Franklin, British Royal Navy officer, Governor of Van Diemen's Land and Arctic explorer
• Jessie Franklin Turner (1881-1956), American fashion designer.
• John Franklin (1786–1847), British Royal Navy officer, Governor of Van Diemens Land and Arctic explorer
• Joseph Paul Franklin (1950–2013), American serial killer
• Kenneth Franklin (1923–2007), American astronomer
• Kirk Franklin (born 1970), gospel/R&B singer
• Lance "Buddy" Franklin (born 1987), Australian Rules Football superstar, Hawthorn Football Club
• Larry Franklin, U.S. Air Force Reserve colonel involved in AIPAC espionage scandal
• Lawson D. Franklin (1804-1861), American planter, slavetrader and businessman.
• Morris Franklin (1801–1885), New York politician and President of New York Life Insurance Co.
• Nobia A. Franklin (1892-1934), American entrepreneur
• Pamela Franklin (born 1950), British actress
• Patricia Franklin, British actress
• Rich Franklin (born 1974), American mixed martial arts fighter
• Rosalind Franklin (1920–1958), English physical chemist and crystallographer
• Scott Franklin (born 1980), Canadian rugby player
• Selim Franklin, British/American/Canadian person
• Stan Franklin (born 1931), American mathematician, computer scientist and cognitive scientist
• Walter Franklin (disambiguation), multiple people
• William Franklin (disambiguation), multiple people

Franklin is a giant sequoia in Giant Forest, a sequoia grove where the largest tree in the world lives - the General Sherman. The Franklin tree is the eighth largest giant sequoia in the world. It was named by Wendell Flint after Benjamin Franklin. Nearby trees include the Washington Tree which was once the second largest tree in the world, but since it lost half its trunk in 2005 many sequoias are now larger.

Giant Forest, famed for its giant sequoia trees, is within Sequoia National Park. The forest, at over in elevation, is located in the western Sierra Nevada of California. Four out of the ten largest trees by volume on the planet are said to be within the Giant Forest. The largest, the General Sherman tree, measures across the base.

Franklin is a side platformed Sacramento RT light rail station in Sacramento, California, United States. The station was opened on August 24, 2015, and is operated by the Sacramento Regional Transit District. As part of the Blue Line, it has service to Downtown Sacramento, North Sacramento, California State University, Sacramento, Rancho Cordova, Gold River and Folsom. The station is located on the north side of Cosumnes River Boulevard west of Franklin Boulevard in the Valley Hi neighborhood of southern Sacramento. There is a 668-stall park and ride with a daily fee located at the station.