Martin Waldseemuller
Martin Waldseemuller Remembrance Day is today. Martin Waldseemuller (born probably in Radolfzell, Germany, c. 1470; died probably St. Die, France, c. 1520) was an early cartographer. He gave the continents of North America and South America their names. He named them after Amerigo Vespucci, the person he thought had first discovered the land masses. Idea: Students could speculate as to what Waldseemuller would have named the continents had he known Christopher Columbus explored the area first. Children can view a copy of his extremely rare world map, purchased by the Library of Congress, at: http://www.loc.gov/rr/geogmap/waldexh.html.