who dicovered america grecsh?

noncom23 · #1 03-08-2007, 03:44 PM

Thought it was this guy. Who is the Irish guy?

Amerigo Vespucci (March 9, 1454 - February 22, 1512) was an Italian merchant, explorer and cartographer. He played a senior role in two voyages which explored the east coast of South America between 1499 and 1502. On the second of these voyages he discovered that South America extended much further south than previously known by Europeans. This convinced him that this land was part of a new continent, a bold contention at a time when other European explorers crossing the Atlantic Ocean thought they were reaching Asia.

Statue at the Uffizi, Florence

Vespucci's voyages became widely known in Europe after two accounts attributed to him were published between 1502 and 1504.[1] In 1507, Martin Waldseemüller produced a world map on which he named the new continent "America" after Vespucci's first name, Amerigo. In an accompanying book, Waldseemüller published one of the Vespucci accounts, which led to criticisms of Vespucci as trying to usurp Christopher Columbus's glory. However, the rediscovery in the 18th century of other letters by Vespucci has led to the view that the early published accounts were fabrications, not by Vespucci, but by others.

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the head · #2 03-08-2007, 03:51 PM

I always thought it was the vikings

Vikings such as Gunnbjörn Ulfsson who first sighted islands off Greenland, probably in the early 900s, Bjarni Herjólfsson, who sighted mainland North-America (Labrador, Canada) around 986, and Leif Eriksson, the first European said to have landed in North-America (Newfoundland, Canada). (see Norse colonization of the Americas, Vinland);

on a side note Leif Eriksson's first pet was a baby polar bear he supposedly wresteled into submission...if true that is the most bad ass thing ever

noncom23 · #3 03-08-2007, 03:53 PM

Yeah I agree with you, Head.

The Vikings Discover America, ca. 1000

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The Hell's Angels motorcycle gang on steroids - an appropriate description of the Viking raiders who ventured from their Scandinavian homeland to pillage the coasts of northern Europe beginning in the 8th century. Booty was their prize and the defenseless monasteries that thrived in splendid isolation on desolate shore lines often their target.

The raiders used savage hit-and-run tactics. They would attack their victim, pillage as much treasure as possible and then demand a ransom to insure that they would not return again - a promise that was invariably broken. By the 10th century these raids had become a seasonal event and the Vikings feared as the "Scourge of Europe." Over time, the raiders settled in, rather than plundered some of the territories they visited such as Iceland, Ireland (where they founded the city of Dublin), Normandy in France (its name referring to the land of the "Norsemen") and central Russia (its name derived from the Nordic term Rothsmenn, meaning seafarer and shortened to "Rus").
The Viking's reliance on the sea as their avenue of attack and escape motivated them to develop seaworthy ships and reliable navigational techniques with which they could travel vast distances over open water. These advantages enabled them to travel the cold, treacherous ocean to the west and reach the shore of America almost five hundred years before Columbus. Eric the Red

Quote:

Originally Posted by the head

I always thought it was the vikings

Vikings such as Gunnbjörn Ulfsson who first sighted islands off Greenland, probably in the early 900s, Bjarni Herjólfsson, who sighted mainland North-America (Labrador, Canada) around 986, and Leif Eriksson, the first European said to have landed in North-America (Newfoundland, Canada). (see Norse colonization of the Americas, Vinland);

on a side note Leif Eriksson's first pet was a baby polar bear he supposedly wresteled into submission...if true that is the most bad ass thing ever

Thunder22 · #4 03-08-2007, 04:04 PM

Read it and weep

http://www.castletown.com/brendan.htm

edit:

another article about him:

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/..._history/39191

Thunder22 · #5 03-08-2007, 04:05 PM

St Brendan the Navigator

The ancient annals of Ireland include a detailed account of St Brendan the Navigator, who in the 6th Century sailed across the sea to a new world with a group of acolytes. He used a currach, which is a type of boat still used in the west of Ireland. It consists of a frame of wood covered in animal skin and then tarred.

Tim Severin, author and explorer, was inspired by the story and by the feats of Heyerdahl. He built a replica, called it the 'Brendan' and in 1976 he sailed across the Atlantic in it with a crew of five, proving that it could be done. Severin's boat is on display in the Craggaunowen Project, Quin, County Clare, Ireland.

Thunder22 · #6 03-08-2007, 04:09 PM

Oh, and just for record, I don't care if the Irish or Columbus "discovered" America, i'm 1/2 irish 1/2 italian, i win either way

noncom23 · #7 03-08-2007, 04:13 PM

Yeah, yeah, yeah! Great story had never heard that and had to ask.
Wonder who else might have been nosing around here before Chris?

Thunder22 · #8 03-08-2007, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by noncom23

Yeah, yeah, yeah! Great story had never heard that and had to ask.
Wonder who else might have been nosing around here before Chris?

uh, i'ld pretty much have to give the nod to Native Americans

cmyX6go · #9 03-08-2007, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gresch

i'm 1/2 irish 1/2 italian, i win either way

It depends which half is Irish

Carry on

noncom23 · #10 03-08-2007, 04:17 PM

Native Americans lol

1421: THE YEAR CHINA DISCOVERED AMERICA?, airing on PBS Wednesday, July 21, investigates a theory that could turn the conventional view of world history on its head: the startling possibility that a daring Chinese admiral, commanding the largest wooden armada ever built, reached America 71 years before Columbus.

The documentary examines the mystery surrounding China's legendary Zheng He and the spectacular Ming fleet of treasure junks he commanded in the early 15th century. The special provides a history of the known journeys of Zheng He's fleet and an account of new information uncovered by Gavin Menzies, a former British submarine commander who has spent nine years trying to prove that Zheng He reached America decades before Columbus. Menzies, author of the best-selling book 1421: The Year China Discovered the World, has assembled evidence that he believes

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