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Good Afternoon:<br>
<br>
Today's spotlight is on <b>Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806)</b>. Mr.
Banneker was a mathematician, astronomer, author of almanacs, surveyor,
humanitarian and inventor. Banneker was born free in Baltimore County,
Maryland and spent his life on his parents' farm. His grandmother, an
English indentured servant named Molly Welsh, taught him to read and
write. At age 12, Banneker began attending school, where he displayed
a strong talent for mathematics, often making up math puzzles for the
fun of solving them. While in his late teens, he saw a pocket watch
for the first time and decided to build a clock himself. After
spending two years carving all the gears from wood, he constructed and
introduced the first striking clock to America and it was constructed
with non imported parts. It kept perfect time for over 40 years.<br>
<br>
Around 1771, Banneker became friendly with the Ellicotts, five Quaker
brothers who had purchased land adjoining his property. From them,
Banneker borrowed various science books, from which he taught himself
astronomy. When an Ellicott cousin, Major Andrew Ellicott, was
appointed to Pierre L' Enfant's team to conduct a survey of what would
later become Washington, D.C., Banneker was hired to assist him -
making him the first African-American presidential appointee in the
United States. He maintained the field astronomical clock and compile
astronomical and other necessary mathematical data. When plans for the
project disappeared, Banneker reproduced them entirely from memory.<br>
<br>
In 1791, and again n 1792, Banneker compiled an ephemeris, an
astronomical report providing mathematically computed positions for the
various stars and planet for every day throughout the year. When
Thomas Jefferson stated that "Blacks are inferior to Whites," Benjamin
Banneker sent him a copy of the 1792 ephemeris along with a 12 page
letter promoting the abolition of slavery and changing Jefferson mind
on the subject. Jefferson was so impressed with Banneker's work that
he forwarded it to the Academie des Sciences in Paris. The ephemeris,
along with a good deal of antislavery material, became a part of <i>Benjamin
Banneker's Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia Almanack and
Ephemeris, for the Year of Our Lord, 1792. </i>The almanac sold well,
and Banneker continued publishing almanacs and/or ephemerics until
1804. His works was often cited by abolitionists as proof that blacks
were the equal of whites in intelligence and sensitivity.<br>
<br>
Benjamin Banneker proved that "The color of the skin is in no way
connected with strength of the mind or intellectual powers."<br>
<br>
Until tomorrow,<br>
Levenia, Marilynn, Brenton, NAACP/Psycho Clubs<br>
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