3 ms·
Discoveries are usually named after the "last" person to discover them, not the first. See: "Americas". Sometimes the first and last discoverer is the same.
by TheJoeMan 3y ago
Discoveries are usually named after the "last" person to discover them, not the first. See: "Americas". Sometimes the first and last discoverer is the same.
- wyldfire 3y agoVespucci was an explorer but more importantly - a cartographer. Much like clever Dr Baum, it wasn't so much a discovery as a usurpation. Indigenous humans didn't discover the Americas, they were just here already. And they had name(s) for the regions they inhabited. But if they hadn't done inter-continental travel they may not have decided to name the continents. Regardless of whether they gave the continents names, the names we use today became popular and they're now the convention. It's worth mentioning that many place names in this hemisphere are based on the corresponding name from the indigenous people. Moral of the story - if you want a lasting legacy, don't invest your time in making discoveries, invest your time in taxonomy/toponomy.