Behaim's Erdapfel Globe
1490
The Nuremberg merchant Martin Behaim constructed the oldest surviving terrestrial globe, based on the best available geographical knowledge just before Columbus's voyage. It showed the Atlantic as navigable and placed Japan roughly where the Caribbean actually is, a geographical error that directly encouraged Columbus's plan. Its narrow Atlantic and misplaced Japan illustrate the errors that made Columbus's westward plan seem plausible to his sponsors.
In context
Also in 1490 (4 other events on record)
- Aldus Manutius Founds His Press · Europe · Technology
- Leonardo da Vinci Draws the Vitruvian Man · Europe · Culture
- Ottoman Jewish Resettlement · Middle East · Politics
- Matthias Corvinus Dies in Vienna · Europe · Politics
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Science
Era
Late Middle Ages (1301–1500), one of 874 events from that era on Saeculum.
Sources