Benjamin Banneker

Benjamin Banneker (November 9, 1731 – October 9, 1806) was a free African American almanac author, inventor, scientist,  surveyor, naturalist and farmer.

 Early life 
Benjamin Banneker was born on November 9, 1731 in Baltimore County, Maryland. His parents are Mary Banneky, a free black, and Robert, a freed slave from Guinea.Bedini, 2008 

In 1788, a man named George Ellicott loaned Banneker books and equipment to study astronomy more formally.(1) Bedini, 1969, p. 8.(2) Bedini, 1999, pp. 81–87; p. 371, references 3, 4, 5; p. 382, reference 12.(3) (4) McHenry, p. 186. "It is about three years since mr. George Ellicott lent him Mayer's tables, Ferguson's astronomy, Leadbeater's lunar tables and some astronomical instruments, but without accompanying them with either hint or instruction, that might further his studies, or lead him to apply them to any useful result. These books and instruments, the first of the kind that he had ever seen, opened a new world to Benjamin, and from thence forward he employed his leisure in astronomical researches."(5) (6) (7)  Banneker sent George Washington his work calculating a solar eclipse the following year.

References

Category:1731 births
Category:1806 deaths
Category:18th-century American people
Category:African-American writers
Category:American inventors
Category:Scientists from Maryland
Category:Writers from Maryland