AMERICA NOT NAMED AFTER AMERIGO VESPUCCI

AMERICA NOT NAMED AFTER AMERIGO VESPUCCI



SEATTLE (Wireless Flash) – Americans have been duped: It turns out the country wasn’t named after explorer Amerigo Vespucci after all. That’s according to Seattle-based author Rodney Broome, who claims America is really named after a Welsh merchant fisherman named Richard Amerike. Broome says Amerike made an expedition to what is now the United States around 1479 – and Britons began referring to the area as “Amerike” when he returned. “Amerike” became “America” when explorer John Cabot misspelled the name on his maps during an expedition to the region. Broome says America became associated with Amerigo Vespucci when he too wrote the name in his maps and books which were published widely. Broome is the author of Terra Incognita: The True Story of How America Got It’s Name (Educare).

Fri 06-15-01