Benjamin Banneker Accomplishments

Mathematician and astronomer Benjamin Banneker was born on November 9, 1731, in Ellicott’s Mills, Maryland. Largely self-taught, Banneker was one of the first African Americans to gain distinction in science. His significant accomplishments and correspondence with prominent political figures profoundly influenced how African Americans were viewed during the Federal period.
Benjamin Banneker, originally Banna Ka, or Bannakay, was a free African American mathematician, astronomer, clockmaker, and publisher. He was America's first African American scientist and a champion of civil rights and world peace. He was the son of an African slave named Robert, who had bought his own freedom, and of Mary Banneky, who was the daughter of an Englishwoman and a free African slave. Benjamin grew up on his father's farm with three sisters.
The Story of Benjamin Banneker
In 1753, a 22 year old Benjamin Banneker sat industriously carving cogs and gears out of wood, and he pieced the parts together to create the complex inner workings of a striking clock, that would hopefully chime every hour. All he had to help him was a pocket watch for inspiration and his own calculations, and yet his careful engineering worked. Striking clocks have already been around hundreds of years before that time, but Banneker's may have been the first created
Banneker was obsessed with math and science, and his appetite for knowledge only grew, as he thought himself astronomy, engineering, and the study of the natural world. As an adult, he used astronomy to accurately predict lunar and solar events, such as the solar eclipse of 1789. He even applied his mathematical skills to land use planning. These talents caught the eye of a local Baltimore businessman, Andrew Ellicott, who was also the Surveyor General of the United States. Recognizing Banneker's skills in 1791, Ellicott appointed him as an assistant to work on a prestigious new project, planning the layout of the Nation's