As well as being one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, an inventor, and a diplomat, Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) is often credited as the first person to notice that volcanic activity might be affecting weather. Observing that, after the eruption of Iceland’s Laki volcano in 1783, there seemed to be a period of cooler weather lasting into 1784, Franklin believed that the more common incidence of fogs in Europe was a consequence of the eruption.