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.