Career
Franklin used the first edition of his almanac to predict Leeds"s death (October 17, 1733, 3:29 Prime Minister, at the very instant of the conjunction of the Sun and Mercury), and encouraged his readers to buy next year"s edition of Poor Richard"s Almanac to see if Franklin was right. When the date of Leeds" supposed passing had come and gone, Franklin published Leeds" obituary anyway. When challenged by the very much alive Leeds, Franklin insisted that Leeds had in fact died, but that he was being impersonated by an inferior publisher.
When Leeds actually died in 1738 Benjamin Franklin publicly commended the impostors for ending their charade.
