The hand paddle was invented by Benjamin Franklin in the 18th century.Click to see full answer. Subsequently, one may also ask, why did Benjamin Franklin invent the hand paddle?When he was an 11-year-old in Boston, Franklin’s first invention was a pair of oval planks with holes through their centres. Grasping the two planks with his hands, Franklin used the “fins” to give him a bit of extra thrust underwater. did Benjamin Franklin invent the lantern? Franklin came up with the idea for the lightning rod in 1750, however it was 1753 before he perfected the invention. Franklin believed that the lightning rod was his most important invention. Correspondingly, who invented the hand paddle? Benjamin Franklin How did Ben Franklin’s inventions change the world?He invented swim fins, the Franklin stove, bifocals, the mechanized glass harmonica, and conducted several experiments with electricity which lead to his development of the lightning rod. Franklin’s invention of swim fins changed the way people move through water.