- American astronomer,
surveyor, and mathematician who published almanacs 1792-97.
- He took part
in the survey that prepared the establishment of the US capital, Washington
DC.
Banneker was
born near the Patapsco River in Baltimore County.
- He was self-taught
and worked most of his life on a tobacco farm.
- He engaged in
a long correspondence with politician Thomas Jefferson, defending
the mental capacities of black people and urging the abolition of
slavery.
- In 1753, at
the age of 21, having studied only a pocket watch, Banneker constructed
a striking clock.
- This was the
first clock of its kind in America and operated for more than 40 years.
- Having taught
himself to calculate an ephemeris and to make projections for lunar
and solar eclipses, Banneker compiled an ephemeris for each year 1791-1804,
though not all were published.
- He also wrote
a dissertation on bees and did a study of locust plague cycles.
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