# Was Ben Franklin's beef with Titan Leeds serious? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 27, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-ben-franklins-beef-with-titan-leeds-serious/507922 "2009-08-27T16:29:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-ben-franklins-beef-with-titan-leeds-serious/507922/1 "2009-08-27T16:29:27Z")
The first year that he published _Poor Richard’s Almanac_, Franklin included a prediction that one Mr. Titan Leeds would die at a particular time the next year. Leeds was an established almanac publisher, so obviously Franklin was in some degree of competition with him. And then - because Ben Franklin was _awesome_ - when Leeds didn’t die, Franklin said he did anyway and for years insisted that an impostor was publishing the Leeds almanac. Was it meant as a light-hearted joke (“oh, that wacky Ben is at it again”), or a more serious attempt to damage Leeds’ reputation/financial well-being? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-ben-franklins-beef-with-titan-leeds-serious/507922/2 "2009-08-27T16:46:18Z")
I think he was trying to redo the Bickerstaff predictions. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-ben-franklins-beef-with-titan-leeds-serious/507922/3 "2009-08-27T17:38:00Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > Another Cracked reader? 🆒