Vespucci
AMERIGO, or AMERI- CUS VESPUCIUS, an Italian navigator, VEST eponymus of the New World; born in Florence, Italy, March 9, 1451. The question of the date of his voyage has been disputed for centuries. According to one account he reached South America in Ju June, 1497, or 14 months earlier than its discovery by Columbus. His "Letters" (1502), giving an account of his voyages, especially of the voyage of 1501, were translated into Latin, Italian, French, and German, and were widely circulated. He wrote a diary called "The Four Journals," after his fourth voyage.
AMERIGO VESPUCCI The suggestion to name the newly discovered continent "America" was first offered by Martin Waldseemüller of St.
Dié in Lorraine, in his work "Introduction to Cosmography" (1507). He died at Seville, Spain, Feb. 22, 1512.