Saturday, August 25, 2007

Which way did Amerigo?

Amerigo Vespucci was the Florentine merchant-adventurer whose self-generated claims included leading two trips across the Atlantic and being the first European to set foot on what we now call the mainland of the USA. While it is widely accepted he made at least two voyages to the Americas, he was not the leader of any expedition or the first European of his era to arrive on the mainland. In fact, he never set foot on the mainland of America.

In one of those synchronicities that is so perfect it makes my head want to explode, the United States of America is named after a self-hyping fraud.


(insert rimshot here)

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Posted by Mickey Z on 08/25 at 05:34 AM
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