TIL about Sebastian Münster's 1540 map of the Americas, the first one to show that North and South America were connected by an isthmus and the first to call it 'The New World.'

leaky_shower_thought , 6 minutes ago

i like how our boi did highlighter colors.

superior india is just right of china. probably quinfay there is “shanghai”.

there’s also that canibali place with bush tents hung with a leg and a happy face.

AA5B , 29 minutes ago

Anyone know what Zipangri is? Could that be Baja California, or what?

Edit: Japan. Is apparently just off the coast of Mexico

TonyTonyChopper , 1 minute ago

Apparently Japan’s shape wasn’t well known either

HubertManne , 37 minutes ago

wow. spain is north of florida.

originalucifer , 1 hour ago

cuba has always been cuba?!

FlyingSquid OP , 1 hour ago

I’m guessing the Taino called it something else.

originalucifer , 1 hour ago

ha, good point. i was just kinda shocked to see a legible 'cuba' and 'florida'

Karyoplasma , 25 minutes ago

Terra florida means something like “land with many flowers” in Spanish.

Zoboomafoo , 59 minutes ago

Looks like they called it Cuba

Cuba - It is derived from either coabana meaning “great place,” or from cubao meaning “where fertile land is abundant”.

FlyingSquid OP , 53 minutes ago

FWIW, this gives a somewhat different origin, although says it is derived from the local name.

www.etymonline.com/word/Cuba

Viking_Hippie , 28 minutes ago

either “great place” or “where fertile land is abundant”

So…first impressions pretty positive?

waigl , 1 hour ago

The only label on the map that’s both on Latin and in old German.

WoodScientist , 1 hour ago

Now I really want to see an animation of what the European discovery of the planet looked like. Imagine a time lapse of a Civilization game, as the map is slowly revealed. I want to see that, except actual history.