According to Gavin Menzes, a retired British submarine commander who stumbled across an ancient Venetian map at the U of MN Bell Library, the Chinese discovered what is now known as America in 1421, seventy-one years prior to the date ingrained in our national memory.
This Pioneer Press story tells how the author’s study of the 528 year old Pizzigano map, at the university library named after James Ford Bell(founder of General Mills), prompted further research resulting in his conclusion “that fleets of Chinese junks commanded by the eunuch admirals of Emperor Zhu Di explored and mapped the globe decades before their European counterparts.”
Not all scholars are backing up his findings but curator Carol Urness noted that “It kind of woke everybody up, so I kind of like that.”
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