16. Life hacks were Benjamin Franklin’s stock in trade in his Almanacks
Benjamin Franklin began printing his famous work Poor Richard’s Almanack in 1732, using the pen name Richard Saunders. It was published every year through 1758, and was one of the most widely read publications in colonial America. Besides including weather forecasts for the coming seasons, astronomical observations, puzzles and riddles and other fare, it included tips in the form of practical suggestions for the use of various items, and the pithy sayings of Poor Richard, many of which were what today would be considered lifehacks, in all matters of daily living and human interaction.
Franklin is not generally regarded today as a man who practiced a life of moderation, though in truth he was for his day and age. He particularly recommended that life could be more productive and pleasant by being moderate in consumption of food. “A full belly makes a dull brain” he exhorted his readers, pointing out senses numbed through overindulgence at meals. In a later edition, he was more forceful writing, “A full belly is the mother of all evil”. There are those who believe that Franklin, the inventor of bifocals, the Franklin stove, the armonica, and the lightning rod, among many others, was also the inventor of tips and practices now called lifehacks.