Banneker, Benjamin (1731-1806), African-American farmer, self-taught mathematician and astronomer. Banneker was born in Maryland and spent most of his life on the tobacco farm he inherited from his father. Although he received little schooling, Banneker demonstrated exceptional scientific ability. At age 22 he constructed a clock made entirely of wood, with each gear carved entirely by hand. In 1789 U.S. President George Washington appointed Banneker to the commission charged with planning the construction of Washington, D.C.; with Major Andrew Ellicott, he helped survey the site of the national capital between 1791 and 1793.

Banneker also became widely known as the compiler of The Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Almanac and Ephemeris, published annually from 1792 to 1802. He sent the manuscript of the first almanac to revolutionary leader and future U.S. president Thomas Jefferson, then secretary of state. With the manuscript, Banneker included a letter in which he protested slavery and disputed Jefferson's claim that blacks were intellectually inferior to whites. Abolitionists used the almanacs as evidence of the intellectual capabilities of blacks.

More Biographies...

Search what you need