BANNEKER, BENJAMIN


Meaning of BANNEKER, BENJAMIN in English

born Nov. 9, 1731, Ellicott's Mills, Md.

died Oct. 25, 1806, Baltimore, Md., U.S.

American astronomer, compiler of almanacs, and inventor.

A free black who owned a farm near Baltimore, Banneker was largely self-educated in astronomy and mathematics. In 1761 he attracted attention by building a wooden clock that kept precise time. He began astronomical calculations about 1773, accurately predicted a solar eclipse in 1789, and published annually from 1791 to 1802 the Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Almanac and Ephemeris . (He sent an early copy of the almanac to Thomas Jefferson to counter a contention that blacks were intellectually inferior.) In 1790 he was appointed to the commission that surveyed the site for Washington, D.C. He also wrote essays denouncing slavery and war.

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia.      Краткая энциклопедия Британика.