Vespucci Born: The Man America Was Named For
Amerigo Vespucci wrote letters describing the landmass he'd sailed along on several expeditions as a 'new world' — distinct from Asia. A German cartographer named Martin Waldseemüller read these letters and in 1507 put the name 'America' on the landmass in his famous world map, crediting Vespucci. Columbus never accepted that he'd found a continent previously unknown to Europeans. Vespucci apparently had fewer illusions. Born March 9, 1454, in Florence. He was a merchant and navigator who worked for the Medici family, managed a ship-outfitting business in Seville, and made his expeditions somewhere between 1499 and 1504. He died in Seville in 1512. Two continents bear his first name. He didn't discover them.
March 9, 1454
572 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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