This 509-year-old map contains the first known use of the word 'America' — but not where you may think

In April 1507, German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller published his Universalis cosmographia secundum Ptholomaei traditionem et Americi Vespucii aliorumque lustrationes, or The Universal Cosmography according to the Tradition of Ptolemy and the Discoveries of Amerigo Vespucci and others. It was the first known map to feature parts of the New World labeled “America,” derived from the Latin version of Vespucci’s first name.

Continue reading...