I watched a MythBusters episode covering this. A likely scenario is that yes, Ben Franklin did fly the kite with a key attached during an electrical storm, but was not struck by lightening. You see, Mr. Franklin was a pretty smart fellow and well aware of the dangers of lightening just as everyone else was. His epiphany was that an electric charge builds up in the air BEFORE the lighting appears (Earth's way of neutralizing an electrical imbalance) and he used the key to attract an electrical charge. What Benjamin Franklin did was generate a mere spark which did no harm, but did prove his point. Now, we don't know this for sure. But, we do know it was unlikely Mr. Franklin was struck by lightening because he did live to tell the tale and conduct many other experiments.
In case you're interested, the struck by lightening part of the story was ruled as busted while the flying the kite with a key and generating a spark during an electrical storm was ruled as plausible. They did not rule the story as confirmed because they conducted their experiments under far more controlled conditions than Benjamin Franklin did and opted not to do their tests during a storm. They did not feel as lucky as BF, I guess.
Kate
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