Hi everyone:
I believe today is the first day of black history month, a period when we
give credit to those innovators and great ones who came before us. The
following was culled from Africana.Com
Contributed By: Aaron Myers
Banneker, born in Baltimore County, Maryland, was one of several children
born to Robert, a freed slave from Guinea, and Mary Banneker. Mary's mother,
Molly Welsh, came to the American colonies as an indentured servant from
England and later married one of her slaves, an African of royal descent
named Bannaka or Banneky. Banneker and his sisters were born free and grew up
on a self-sufficient tobacco farm of 40 hectares (100 acres). Banneker
received the equivalent of an eighth-grade education at a local integrated
school and was also tutored by his grandmother. Growing up, he spent much of
his free time devising and solving mathematical puzzles. He took over the
farm after his father's death in 1759.
In the 18th century, clocks and watches were rare devices constructed in
metal by skilled artisans. At the age of 22, Banneker created a working clock
from wood after studying the watch of a friend. Having no metal at his
disposal, he meticulously carved each component from wood with a pocketknife.
It took him two years to finish the clock. Banneker's wooden clock kept
accurate time in hours, minutes, and seconds throughout his lifetime.
After his retirement from farming at the age of 59, Banneker began to study
astronomy, becoming a man of science and mathematics through unassisted
experimentation and close observation of natural phenomena. He became
interested in astronomy through a local surveyor named George Ellicott, who
loaned him astronomy books. Banneker employed his knowledge of astronomy and
mathematics to help plan the city of Washington, D.C. In February 1791 United
States president George Washington commissioned Ellicott and French engineer
Pierre L'Enfant to help plan the construction of the nation's capital on an
area of land 25 sq km (10 sq mi) in Virginia and Maryland. Ellicott invited
Banneker to be his assistant. A dispute between some Americans and Frenchmen
on the project led L'Enfant to abandon it and take the drafted plans with
him. Over the course of two days, Banneker reproduced the intricate plans
from memory, preventing a major delay. For this reason, some historians refer
to Banneker as "the man who saved Washington, D.C."
Shortly after returning to his farm in April 1791, Banneker issued his first
of some ten annual almanacs, which were published by several printers and
sold widely in both England and the United States. Banneker charted the
movement of heavenly bodies and successfully predicted several solar
eclipses. Farmers and navigators relied on this important information. In
addition, Banneker reproduced road maps, conversion charts, and literature in
his almanacs.
On August 19, 1791, Banneker sent a copy of his first almanac to Thomas
Jefferson, Secretary of State under President George Washington, in an effort
to dispute Jefferson's belief that blacks were intellectually inferior to
whites and in order to protest slavery in the United States. Jefferson
congratulated Banneker on his publication and expressed his wish for more
proof "that nature has given to our [black] brethren talents equal to that of
other colors of men." Furthermore, Jefferson forwarded a copy of Banneker's
almanac to the Academy of Sciences in Paris, France, one of the leading
scientific societies in the world during the 18th century.
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