Who Was Benjamin Banneker?
Benjamin Banneker was born in Maryland on November 9, 1731. His father and grandfather were former slaves. A farmer of modest means, Banneker nevertheless lived a life of unusual achievement. In 1753, the young man borrowed a pocket watch from a well-to-do neighbor; he took it apart and made a drawing of each component, then reassembled the watch and returned it, fully functioning, to its owner. From his drawings Banneker then proceeded to carve, out of wood, enlarged replicas of each part. Calculating the proper number of teeth for each gear and the necessary relationships between the gears, he constructed a working wooden clock that kept accurate time and struck the hours for over 50 years. At age 58, Banneker began the study of astronomy and was soon predicting future solar and lunar eclipses. He compiled the ephemeris, or information table, for annual almanacs that were published for the years 1792 through 1797. “Benjamin Banneker’s Almanac” was a top seller from Pennsylvania to Vi
Benjamin was the one who planned to build the state capital. And also he predicted the solar eclipse.Benjamin Baneker was born in maryland in 1731 and died 1806.His real name was Benjamin Bannaky, but when he joined a quker school as a boy, his teacher changed the way it was spelled.When he got older, he became interested in a pocketwatch his neighbor owned.Benjamin borrowed the pocketwatch from his neighbor and took it apart and studied all the pieces.Benjamin began carving out all the pieces and made his very own clock.Benjamin’s clock was so well made that it worked precisley for 40 years.He also was an amateur atronomer. Benjamin Banneker made the first almanac in the United states.
