ITEM DETAILS
artwork
Italian explorer Vespucci was known for challenging old-world ideas
Science and Technology
Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci died on February 22, in 1512.
Known for challenging the until-then accepted idea that the New World was attached to or part of Asia, Vespucci reached Brazil and the West Indies in his 1501-1502 expedition, under the Portuguese flag.
Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, and other European navigators held that these lands were part of Asia. Vespucci, who initially intended on sailing west of Europe to reach the eastern coasts of Asia, disproved this notion, as well as Ptolemy's mathematical and astrological geographic calculations.
Much controversy surrounds the veracity of Vespucci's travels. Letters to Piero Soderini and the Medicis, the legitimacy of which has not been confirmed, recount the explorer's voyages.
In 1507, German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller repurposed Vespucci's first name, using the Latin version, changing it to Americus, and to its feminine form (like all three continents at that point) America.
Known for challenging the until-then accepted idea that the New World was attached to or part of Asia, Vespucci reached Brazil and the West Indies in his 1501-1502 expedition, under the Portuguese flag.
Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, and other European navigators held that these lands were part of Asia. Vespucci, who initially intended on sailing west of Europe to reach the eastern coasts of Asia, disproved this notion, as well as Ptolemy's mathematical and astrological geographic calculations.
Much controversy surrounds the veracity of Vespucci's travels. Letters to Piero Soderini and the Medicis, the legitimacy of which has not been confirmed, recount the explorer's voyages.
In 1507, German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller repurposed Vespucci's first name, using the Latin version, changing it to Americus, and to its feminine form (like all three continents at that point) America.
Italy, Europe
February 22, 1512
post by Chanez Baali
project: The Glass Files #onthisday via Instagram
artwork | Amerigo Vespucci | America | namesake | exploration | voyage | expedition | piloto mayor | navigation | Atlantic | Brazil | new world | old world | lettera | geography | history | on this day | ideas | theory | Marco Polo | Christopher Columbus | cartography | USA | mapping | discovery
This item is shared by Mother Earth
with
the Community and the World.