Amerigo Vespucci was born on 9 March 1454 in Florence. A Florentine merchant, navigator and cartographer, Vespucci took part in voyages along the coast of South America around the turn of the sixteenth century. Letters attributed to him argued that the lands reached by Columbus were not part of Asia but a separate continent, a New World. The German cartographer Martin Waldseemuller used a feminine form of his first name, America, on a famous 1507 map, and the name eventually spread to both continents. Historians still debate the authenticity of some of the letters and how many voyages he actually made. He later served as pilot major of Spain.
Before and after
- 21 September 1452Birth of Girolamo Savonarola
- from 1453 to 1454Morea revolt of 1453–1454
- from 6 April 1453 to 29 May 1453Fall of Constantinople
- from 1454 to 1466Thirteen Years' War
- 9 March 1454Birth of Amerigo Vespucci
- 1455Construction of Grand Bazaar
- from 22 May 1455 to 16 June 1487Wars of the Roses
- from 4 July 1456 to 22 July 1456Siege of Belgrade
- 28 January 1457Birth of Henry VII of England
More in Exploration & discovery
- from 629 CE to 645 CEXuanzang travels from China to India
- from 1271 to 1295Marco Polo sets out for China
- c. 1280sPolynesian navigators settle New Zealand
- 14 June 1325Ibn Battuta sets out from Tangier
- 1451Birth of Christopher Columbus
- 24 June 1497John Cabot reaches North America
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 15th century.