Benjamin Banneker

Sometime in the early 1750s, Benjamin Banneker borrowed a pocket watch from a wealthy acquaintance, took the watch home so he could take it apart to study its components. After returning the watch, he created a fully functioning clock entirely out of carved wooden pieces. The clock was amazingly precise, and would keep on ticking for decades. As the result of the attention his self-made clock received, Banneker was able to start up his own watch and clock repair business.

The son of former slaves, Benjamin worked on his family’s tobacco farm and received some early education from a Quaker school. However, he gained his vast knowledge from being a prolific reader. At the tender age of 15 he was able to take over the farm and he invented irrigation for the farm from nearby springs.

Benjamin Banneker was self-taught in astronomy and mathematics by reading books he borrowed from a friend.  He was able to accurately predict a 1789 solar eclipse from the knowledge that he gained in astronomy. Later he became the author and publisher of the annual Almanac and Ephemeris of Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. He distributed a copy to the Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson with a letter urging the abolition of slavery.