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.

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.

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