Short answers, pulled from the story.
The American Philosophical Society was founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin, along with James Alexander, Francis Hopkinson, John Bartram, Philip Syng Jr., and others. It grew out of an earlier club Franklin had organized called the Junto.
The society's headquarters, Philosophical Hall, is at 104 South Fifth Street in Philadelphia, just east of Independence Hall in Independence National Historical Park. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965 and opened as a public museum in 2001.
The Magellanic Premium is a prize for achievement in navigation, astronomy, or natural philosophy, established by the APS in 1786. It is the oldest scientific prize awarded by any American institution and is still presented today.
Early members included Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Rush, and James Madison, among others. The society also recruited international figures such as Alexander von Humboldt, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Princess Dashkova.
The Transactions of the American Philosophical Society have been published since 1771, with five issues appearing each year. The Proceedings, which carry papers from the society's biannual meetings, have been published since 1838.
The APS holds the ACLS Collection, a body of Indigenous language documents that dates from 1553 to 2020. The materials include manuscripts, audio recordings, and visual records relating to Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas, including recordings of the Odawa language from northern Michigan.