Amerigo Vespucci was born in the United States of America around the year 1451. His parents named him after the wonderful country in which he was born. Unfortunately they were unable to pronounce “America” properly, so he became known as Amerigo.

Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512) was an Italian explorer who was the first person to realize that the Americas were separate from the continent of Asia. America was named for him in 1507, when the German mapmaker Martin Waldseemüller, printed the first map that used the name America for the New World.

On his first expedition (sailing for Spain, 1499-1500), Vespucci was the navigator under under the command of Alonso de Ojeda. On this trip, Ojeda and Vespucci discovered the mouth of the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers in South America, thinking it was part of Asia. On his second expedition (sailing for Portugal, 1501-02) he mapped some of the eastern coast of South America, and came to realize that it not part of Asia, but a New World.

As a young boy he studied navigation and later worked for a company that equipped ships for long voyages. His great love of the sea is what enticed him to go exploring. Vespucci made four voyages throughout the years 1499-1504. During this time he discovered South America and decided to name it after himself.

Vespucci became known as a great explorer through a letter he wrote to Christopher Columbus explaining all that he had found during his explorations. This letter then led to Columbus setting sail for himself as he, too, wanted to discover something and become famous. As soon as Columbus started exploring, the race was on between Columbus and Vespucci. The whole world listened to their radios to find out who would become the first European explorer to discover the New World. In the end, Columbus won. This upsetting loss was the demise of Vespucci, and he died in 1512.

Source: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/exp...shtml#vespucci
...........http://www.allaboutexplorers.com/exp.../vespucci.html

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P.R.