Benjamin Banneker is best known as one of the original surveyors of Washington, D.C. That apart, he was a mathematician, an expert astronomer, almanac maker, and a staunch opposer of slavery and racial discrimination in America. Unfortunately, very little information is available to prove whether these achievements are facts or myths. We can only rely on flimsy sources to understand the accomplishments of a man who succeeded in life against all odds. Brief Introduction Benjamin Banneker was born on November 9, 1731 in Baltimore county of Maryland, USA. His father, Robert, was a runaway slave and his mother, Mary, was a freed slave. Mary was born to an English indentured slave named Molly Welsh and a freed black slave named Bannaky (also known as Banna Ka). Benjamin was the eldest of the seven Banneker siblings. He grew up on a tobacco farm owned by his family. His maternal grandmother, Molly Welsh, taught him and his siblings to read and write. By the age of six, Benjamin could read out the Bible to his family. He also attended a Quaker school, where he learned simple arithmetic. He had to quit his formal education once he became old enough to work on the family farm. Benjamin spent the rest of his life, along with his family on the Baltimore farm and chose to remain single until his death. Notable Achievements Benjamin Banneker's achievements are highly creditable because of the circumstances under which they were made. Firstly, Banneker came from an African-American family, which had been subjected to slavery and racial discrimination. Secondly, he had very little formal education and was a self-taught person. Let us take a look at some of his versatile achievements. Benjamin Banneker created a working model of a clock carved solely out of wood, in the year 1753. The internal mechanism of this clock was influenced by a pocket watch owned by his friend. It is said that Benjamin borrowed the pocket watch, dismantled all its parts, created design sketches for each part and increased the size of each part proportionately. In a span of two years, Benjamin carved every part of the wooden clock and assembled it on his own. The clock worked beautifully for nearly forty years, until it got burned and destroyed in a fire on the day of Benjamin Banneker's burial. Banneker's clock holds the reputation of being the first wooden clock ever created on the American continent. Benjamin Banneker was often called a sable astronomer. He is said to have gained basic knowledge in astronomy from his grandmother Molly Welsh, who in turn learned it from her husband Bannaky. Benjamin's grandfather, is speculated to have belonged to Dogon tribe, which reportedly has a good knowledge on astronomy. By the year 1771, Benjamin got acquainted with Ellicott brothers who had newly moved into his community. George, one of the Ellicott brothers, was an amateur astronomer. He lent several books pertaining to astronomy and mathematics to Benjamin. By using this knowledge, Benjamin successfully predicted a solar eclipse that took place on April 14, 1789. Benjamin Banneker used his expertise in astronomy to create and publish almanacs for six years starting from 1792 to 1797. The almanac was published under the name 'Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia Almanac and Ephemeris'. It contained information pertaining to position of celestial bodies in the sky and seasons. For fillers in between details of the almanac, Benjamin added bits of literature pertaining to his views on peace, politics, and abolition of slavery and racial discrimination. The contents of Benjamin Banneker's almanacs clearly set them apart from competing almanacs of that time. Another feather in Banneker's cap of achievements, is his close involvement in survey pertaining to District of Columbia. In February 1791, Major Andrew Ellicott hired Benjamin as a part of a survey team to assist him in marking the boundaries for creating the District of Columbia. This territory was to be Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States of America. At that time, a French-American architect named Pierre Charles L'Enfant had been hired to design the layout of the capital city. On account of certain official issues, L'Enfant's services were dismissed. L'Enfant refused to part with his original designs and plans for District of Columbia. Legend states that, Banneker with his excellent memory, skillfully recreated the entire city plans in less than 48 hours. However, there is no proof whether this is a fact or an exaggerated myth. In August 1791, Benjamin Banneker wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson, the then U.S. Secretary of State. With this letter, Benjamin wanted to plea for the freedom of African-Americans. He had always spoken against racism and slavery. The letter was merely an attempt to bring an end to these social problems permanently. It is also said that, Benjamin sent a copy of his first almanac to Thomas Jefferson along with this letter. The letter started off with the following words. Eleven days later, Thomas Jefferson replied to the letter saying, Whether the Academy of Sciences received the almanac or not, cannot be validated due to the lack of sufficient evidence. Benjamin Banneker died on October 9, 1806 in his log cabin on account of old age and his long-term alcohol addiction. Furthermore, his log cabin caught fire and burned down the day he was buried. As a result, a lot of his valuable works, including the wooden clock got destroyed. Today, almost 200 years after Banneker's death, just a handful of records survive that give evidence of his accomplishments. This might be the reason why he remains an obscure personality. The US Postal Service commemorated this icon by issuing a postal stamp in the year 1980.