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Show TODAY IN HISTORY I WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9. Birthday of Amerigo Vespucci. Today In the birthday of the man from whom tho western continents received their name of America. Ills name wns Amerigo Vespucci, or. as It would bo Latinized. Aincrlcus Vcspuclus, He wns a Florentine navigator, having bee.n born In that city on March 9, 1-IR1. For a considerable con-siderable time he was n merchant, there, but later established himself In Seville, Spain. Hero ho supplied the vosseln engaged en-gaged In tho voyages to tho .West Ind cs. In 1197 he placed his business In other hands and set. out to seo something of the New World himself. For about eighteen moulliH he cruised along the South Amcr-lean Amcr-lean coast nnd returned home. Ho made several subsequent trips and was bacK again In Seville in February, 1505, where lie mot Columbus. The two men become rivals and Vespucci Is accused of having attempted to secure the renown properly belonging lo Columbus. During his sojourn at Lisbon. In September. Sep-tember. 1504. Vespucci completed nnd despatched des-patched lo his old patrons, tho Medici, In Florence, nn account of his four voyages. The original of this account has been lost, but abridged translations wore made lit ir.0T by Waldseemuller. who suggested that, Inasmuch as Vespucci hnd been tho rirst lo make known this new southern continent, it might be proper lo name It "America." Tho new nnme was given only to the newly-discovered southern continent, with no thought of extending It over the Islands of the West Indies. Waldncemuller s suggestion was embodied In printed and nianusf-rlpt maps, si few of which have survived to the present dny. The name gradually became fixed In proper usage. During a vovagc to Hits continent In 1197, if his nceounts are accurate. It is thought, ho reached the mainland a, few weeks earlier than the Cabots and about fourteen months earlier than Columbus. It should first bo noted, howover. that the sole authority for this voyago mado by Vespucci, In 1107. Is Vespucci himself. AH contcmpoary history, othor than his own letters, Is absolutely silent. In regard to such a voyage, whether H be history In printed books or In the archives of those kingdoms of Europe where the precious documents touching the earlier expeditions to the New World are deposited. de-posited. In Wnldsecmullcr's "Cosmographiac In-troduello." In-troduello." which wns published In lf07. he says in his suggestion as a name for the New World: "A fourth part of tho world, which, since. Amerigo found It, we may call Amerlge or America;" and. again, "now a fourth part has been found by Amerigo Vespucci, and I do not see why wo should bo prevented from calling It 'Amerigo' or 'America.' " The general weight of opinion by the Investigators of the subject Is that Vespucci did not mako tho 1197 voyage at all, and that ho had no share In tho first discovery of the American continent, but there Is not sufficient suf-ficient evidence to convict him of deliberate delib-erate falsehood. On March 9 occurred the last naval battle bat-tle of the Revolution between tho Alliance Alli-ance and several frigates In 17S3; and during tho Civil war the battle between tho Menimac and Monitor at Hampton Roads- This date, in 1S29. tho postmaster general was mado a member of the President's Pres-ident's cabinet. It Is the birthday of Isaac Hull (1773). who commanded the Commodoro which defeated and cupturcd the Guerrlerc in the war of IS12; the birthday of Edwin Forrest, the actor (170S): of Lcland Stanford, the philanthropist philan-thropist (1S21). ami the day on which Anna Lctltla Barbald, tho poetess, died in lS'Jo. and Emperor William 1 of Germany Ger-many in 18SS. |