Benjamin Banneker  was an African American mathematician and astronomer. He calculated ephemerides (tables that tell the location of stars and planets) for almanacs that were widely distributed and influential. Because of the work he did, he became one of the most remarkable people in early American history. He did not spend much time in school yet he became a brilliant scientist. Benjamin Banneker had a gift for performing calculations that he used in his work as a surveyor.             
     He was not a slave at the time most blacks were slaves in America. Benjamin never took his freedom for granted, he thought slavery was wrong and unfair. He was one of the best known Americans  of his time . He is not as well known today however despite  his great accomplishments.

     He was born  in 1791 in Maryland during the time Maryland was a British colony . His grandmother, Molly had been a white  indentured servant from England and his grandfather had been an African prince. who had been her slave. They started a farm where Banneker's mother, Mary (Molly's daughter)and his father, a freed slave from Guinea lived. Benjamin did not care much for farming but was more interested in reading and solving math problems. At the age of twenty one ,he saw a neighbors pocket watch. Borrowing  the watch he took it apart to draw all its pieces, and then reassembled it and returned it running to its owner. Using a pocketknife  Benjamin carved larger wooden copies of each piece. He calculated the gears he assembled himself and he used the parts to make the first striking clock ever built in America. The clock continued to  work perfectly for more than 40 years.                 It only stopped working when Banneker's house caught on fire.
     In 1771 a Quaker family named Ellicott moved near the Banneker farm. George Ellicott became Benjamin Banneker's close friend. Banneker began his study of  astronomy, at the age of fifty eight. His studies allowed him to make use of his astronomical instruments and mathematical  knowledge to make calculations to predict solar and lunar eclipses. He used this knowledge to In 1792  he was hired to assist brothers Andrew and Joseph Ellicott to work with French architect Pierre L' Enfant who was to draw the plans for the  new capital of the United States, but L' Enfant was dismissed after numerous temper tantrums, and he took his drawings with him. But Benjamin Banneker was able to draw the plans by memory, thus saving  the famous plan of Washington, D.C.. He was the first African American employee of the federal government.
      In 1792,he published an almanac including things such as the phases of the moon. He used information/calculations he got himself using his telescope. Thomas Jefferson really liked and appreciated Banneker's almanacs. He was responsible for sending the almanacs to scientists and leaders around the world where Banneker was recognized as a brilliant mathematician and astronomer.
   Benjamin Banneker lived on the family farm where he died on October 9,1806.