Benjamin Franklin

 Imagine not being able to touch an inheritance for the foreseeable future. Then, in April 1990, the 200th anniversary of the passing of Benjamin Franklin, the cities of Boston and Philadelphia were the beneficiaries of his 18th-century wisdom.Franklin left the two cities with a cash sum of $2,000 sterling. There was just one catch that was: a portion of the money could not be utilized for 100 years and the remaining amount could not be used for 200 years.The Franklin was born in Boston in 1706 and relocated to Philadelphia when he turned 17. He left $2,000 in his will , which he intended to divide between Philadelphia and Boston. The money was to be used as loans for young apprentices. The idea was to help new tradesmen to get into their jobs.And the sum of $2,000 was significant: This was the salary Franklin earned during his term as Governor of Pennsylvania from 1785 to 1788. "It was one of Franklin's top ideas that he tried to get written into the Constitution that the public servants of a democracy should not receive compensation," said historian Whitfield Bell, who is currently the curator of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia.