Unveiling the Fascinating Story of Thomas Fuller, the African Math Genius!

Freda Savahl
2 min readJan 18, 2024

Discover the Incredible Mind Who Made Significant Contributions to Mathematics Despite Adversities.

AFRICAN HISTORY: The enslaved African math genius whose intellect shocked white people By: Mildred Europa Taylor (theinkscommunity.blogspot.com)

The Virginia Calculator: (1710–1790)

Meet Thomas Fuller, a young African boy who was sold into slavery at the tender age of 14 in 1724. Despite his unfortunate circumstances, he possessed an extraordinary gift — an exceptional ability to solve complex mathematical problems in his head.
This talent earned him the nickname “Virginia Calculator.” Imagine performing complex mathematical equations without a calculator or pen and paper! Thomas’s story is truly inspiring and a testament to the power of the human mind.

He was asked how many seconds there were in a year and a half, and he answered in about two minutes, 47,304,000.
Again, he was asked how many seconds a man who is 70 years, 17 days, and 12 hours old has lived; he answered in a minute and a half, 2,210,500,800.

One of the men was working out the problems on paper and informed Fuller that he was wrong because the answer was much smaller.
Fuller quickly replied, with a witty comeback,
“Top, massa, you forget de leap year.”
And to everyone’s…

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Freda Savahl

Retired Nurse Practitioner WHC /Contract Provider Deployment Military Services. US Citizen. Immigrant from South Africa 1978.