In April 1507, German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller (11 September 1470 – 16 March 1520) became the first person to use the word ‘America’ in a document, namely his Universalis cosmographia secundum Ptholomaei traditionem et Americi Vespucii aliorumque lustrationes (The Universal Cosmography according to the Tradition of Ptolemy and the Discoveries of Amerigo Vespucci and others).
North America is called ‘Parias’ – ‘America’ is used to label the South American coast all the way down to the present-day port of Cananéia, Brazil.
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