Benjamin Franklin was well known for a number of reasons, but even today "flying a kite in a thunderstorm" is one of the first that comes to mind.

This is a landmark that everyone knows about, and one reason for having it here is to give a specific date to it (1752, that is). There’s also the concern over how authentic to consider it - the descriptions here are definitely from Franklin and in that year, even if he was neither to first to try it nor confirmed to have actually done it.