Monday, December 11, 2006

How did "America" get its name...?

In Firenze my roommate stopped me to explain the story of this Italian. I hope everyone knows who he is: Amerigo Vespucci (1451-1512).

Once an Italian joked with me: "Didn't you know that America was discovered by an Italian...who was lost!" Then he went on: "Didn't you know that America was named after an Italian, too!"

This was his name in Latin: Americus Vespucius. He was an Italian navigator; the eponym of America!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It's actually more likely that America was named after an Englishman of Welsh extraction called Richard Amerike, who financed the discovery of North America by John Cabot in 1497.