Maryland State House struck by lightning, saved by 208-year-old lightning rod

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Benjamin Franklin may have saved the Maryland State House... 226 years after his death.

On Friday, the building was struck by lightning, wrote Governor Larry Hogan in a Facebook post. Thanks to a lightning rod constructed and grounded to Franklin's exact specifications 208 years ago, though, the building was spared.

" [The lightning rod] was, in some respects, a political statement, expressing support for Franklin's theories on the protection of public buildings from lightning and the rejection of opposing theories supported by King George III," wrote Hogan.

Hogan then wrote that, for Franklin and those like him, "the pointed lightning rod atop such an important new public building was a powerful symbol of the independence and ingenuity of our young nation."

The centuries-old lightning rod not only saved a special place for Maryland, but for the United States on whole. That's because the Maryland State House once served as the nation's capital and is the location where the Revolutionary War ended with the ratification of the Treaty of Paris.

Hogan wrote that the extraordinary event was "fitting for the 4th of July weekend."

Read his entire post below.