How did Benjamin Franklin's kite experiment work ??

Benjamin Franklin's kite experiment has grown into an American legend. Almost everyone has heard of Franklin's famous experiment, but few of us actually understand how the experiment worked. When a storm cloud passed over Franklin's kite the negative charges in the cloud leaked onto his kite, his kite string, his key, and a Leyden jar attached to the key by a thin metal wire. Franklin however, was unaffected by the negative charges because he was holding a dry silk string which insulated him from the charges on the key. When Franklin reached out his knuckle to touch the key he received a shock, because the negative charges in the key were so strongly attracted to the positive charges in his body that a spark jumped from the key to his hand. Franklin's experiment successfully showed that lightning was actually static electricity.

AND . . . my favorite Benjamin Franklin "quote" from his autobiography:

"So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to do."

Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790)