The man who named the Western Hemisphere was Martin Waldseemüller. He was a German mapmaker who in 1507 was drawing a map of the new world. Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian explorer sailing for the Portuguese, was the first to realize that Columbus had not visited India but had encountered a new landmass. Vespucci sent his notes to Waldseemüller, who he knew was creating a map. Waldseemüller had to name the place depicted on the map, and the name couldn’t be India, regardless of what Columbus had thought. Waldseemüller decided to call the hemisphere “America” in honor of Amerigo Vespucci, and such
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