This scrappy piece of parchment marks a world-changing moment in human history. Completed around 1500 CE – or so we think – it is the first known map to depict Europe, Asia, and Africa alongside the coasts of the Americas. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

The first Europeans to set foot in North America were Norse Vikings, who sailed between Greenland and present-day Canada around 1000 CE. However, it wasn’t until the late 15th century that systematic European exploration and colonization of the continent began, with the famous/infamous voyages of Christopher Columbus, who made landfall in 1492.

Second-in-command on this journey was Juan de la Cosa , the owner of Columbus’s flagship Santa María, who had a pench

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