Benjamin Banneker builds America's first clock almost entirely out of wood

Banneker was the son of former slaves, self taught in math and astronomy. The clock, believed to be the first built in America, kept precise time for fifty years until his death, according to the Library of Congress. Banneker became well known for his almanacs, successfully predicting a solar eclipse, and being a part of the surveying team that would map out the U.S. capitol at Washington, D.C. Banneker and founding father Thomas Jefferson frequently wrote letters to one another and Banneker would challenge Jefferson about slavery, urging him to fight for abolition.