Ben Franklin nearly misses out on the Revolution when he injures himself trying to tenderize a turkey by electrocuting it.

"The audience for this accident reported that they had seen a great flash and heard a loud crack, but Franklin didn’t notice this, having been shocked senseless. He did record that “the first thing I took notice of was a violent, quick shaking of my body, which gradually remitting, my sense as gradually returned.” Franklin felt some numbness for a short while afterwards, and experienced some soreness for a few days, but otherwise, he suffered only from embarrassment at his mistake. He made an effort to warn others against making a similar mistake when conducting such dangerous experiments."