Amerigo Vespucci

Amerigo Vespucci (9 March 1454 - 22 February 1512) was an Italian merchant, explorer and cartographer. He was the first person to explain that the New World discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492 was not the eastern area of Asia, but an unknown continent (the Americas).

America was named after Amerigo Vespucci. North and South America get this name from a feminized and latinized version of his first name, Americus.

Vespucci died of malaria.

Other websites

 * Canaday, James A. The Life of Amerigo Vespucci.
 * Account of 'The First Voyage', 1497: Letter of Amerigo Vespucci To Pier Soderini - Fordham University (U.S.) Internet Modern History Sourcebook
 * A scale model - A scaled wooden model of the Amerigo Vespucci.
 * 'I am America.' - New York Times: Five hundred years ago, our continent was given a name.
 * 'I am America.' - New York Times: Five hundred years ago, our continent was given a name.