Stump the German

[Rob Wick]

When I was in college (and no, it wasn't in 1507), I participated in a trivia challenge in the history department at Eastern Illinois University. One of the questions asked was when the first time the word "America" was used on a map, and the answer was 1507, so I am guessing that he was the first to do so.

Best
Rob

[Eva Elisabeth]

Kudos Rob, well done! I summarize a bit from Wiki:

In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a new Latin edition of Ptolemy's treatise on geography, the first to include the recent discoveries, so far called the" New World", or the "Fourth Part of the World". The intro reads (in Latin):
"There is a fourth quarter of the world which Amerigo Vespucci has discovered..., and I do not see why anyone should justifiably forbid it to be called Amerie, as if 'Americus' Land', or America, from its discoverer Americus, a man of perceptive character; since both Europa and Asia have received their names from women."
In 1513, Waldseemüller appears to have had second thoughts about the name, probably due to contemporary protests about Vespucci’s role in the discovery and naming of America. He corrected the error in a later edition, where the continent is labelled" Terra Incognita" (unknown land), and South America "Terra Nova", but the name America had now already been established.

A single copy of the map survives, presently housed at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and here it is:
https://www.loc.gov/rr/geogmap/waldexh.html

Here comes the prize for all who joined to figure this one - and thanks much for your "fair play" (!):
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=P_1N6_O254g

[Rob Wick]

Eva,

The only reason I can remember that date was because it was one of the questions I got wrong, even though I won the competition. Your prize was much better than what I got then. I won a free cup of coffee (it normally cost a quarter).

Best
Rob

[L Verge]

Kudos Rob, well done! I summarize a bit from Wiki:

In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a new Latin edition of Ptolemy's treatise on geography, the first to include the recent discoveries, so far called the" New World", or the "Fourth Part of the World". The intro reads (in Latin):
"There is a fourth quarter of the world which Amerigo Vespucci has discovered..., and I do not see why anyone should justifiably forbid it to be called Amerie, as if 'Americus' Land', or America, from its discoverer Americus, a man of perceptive character; since both Europa and Asia have received their names from women."
In 1513, Waldseemüller appears to have had second thoughts about the name, probably due to contemporary protests about Vespucci’s role in the discovery and naming of America. He corrected the error in a later edition, where the continent is labelled" Terra Incognita" (unknown land), and South America "Terra Nova", but the name America had now already been established.

A single copy of the map survives, presently housed at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and here it is:
https://www.loc.gov/rr/geogmap/waldexh.html

Here comes the prize for all who joined to figure this one - and thanks much for your "fair play" (!):
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=P_1N6_O254g

What a great prize, Eva. It has been many a year since I have listened to the New World Symphony, and I noticed that this was done in 1966 (the year after I graduated college). In my sophomore year, I was forced into taking Music Appreciation -- and hated it instead of appreciating it!

I had been a piano and organ student since age ten and a church organist since age 12, so I really did enjoy music of all kinds. And, I was a product of the 1950s and 60s; what was there to dislike about music? Answer: the professor who taught that class and thought he was another Beethoven and gave a final exam where he dropped the phonograph needle anywhere on that 33 and 1/3 vinyl, played about 10 seconds, and then told us to write the answer as to what piece we had just heard!

Let's just say that we all had a hard time with that exam. However, a snippet from New World Symphony was one piece that I could identify -- along with a snippet from Aaron Copeland's Painted Desert. I did get some others right as well as a B in the class, but that and geography stand out as my least favorite subjects in college (even above P.E.). And, of course, your trivia question involved geography. I was doomed from the start.

[Eva Elisabeth]

This is an off-road question but I found the entire content worth posting - and (teachers will know) guessing is the catchiest way...
I took this photo a couple of days ago - it's a quite famous piece of art designed by a famous person in a quite famous place that (the dark side of all) was "made" by US slave trade.
   
Can you find out 1. where it is located, 2. the name of the place and/or 3. who designed it?

[AussieMick]

I'll guess #1 Located at Manchester in UK ... in which case #2 First St, Manchester (found by using Google ... ) #3 Designed by ... Sorry, my Google search didnt go that far.

Of course, if my guess at it being Friedrich Engels is wrong than please ignore the above.

And as for places "made" by US slave trade, my first thought was Liverpool ... and then Bristol ... the UK sadly made a lot of money out of the slave trade .

[Eva Elisabeth]

Thanks for such elaborated guesses and thoughts, Mick, it's interesting that it's "just" the UK that first comes to mind in this field. There is another nation one of whose citizens (if I recall correctly) first got the idea of replacing Indian with African slave labor - on that nation's territory the salamander is located.

[AussieMick]

Ok ... Cuba ?

( I lived in the UK for 29 years ... and the UK does tend to have a bit of 'history' re. the slave trade)

[L Verge]

I detected a definite Hispanic influence in the mosaic design, so my first guess would be, like AussieMick's, somewhere in Cuba, Haiti, or even Mexico -- leaning more to the sugar plantation regions south of the U.S., which served to spur on slavery as well as the plans of the Knights of the Golden Curcle?

Hold the presses! I just re-read your question and think that you may want an original source in your comment about turning from Indian laborers to African slaves. If so, can we think Spain as the original source?

No idea as to the designer.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Brilliant, Laurie, I took the pic in Spain (and as for the idea of African slaves instead of Indians I think it was Bartolomé de las Casas).
OK, back to the exact location and designer who actually was an architect.
Hint #1: The place as well as six other places/buildings he designed are UNESCO World Heritage.
Hint #2: The city is comparable to Richmond as a capital...

[AussieMick]

Eva, your "comparable to Richmond as a capital" reminds me that Spain had a civil war. Valencia?

[Eva Elisabeth]

Good idea, Mick - it's a well known city farther north, and the "capital" of a people who wants to separate from Spain.
Very famous for modernism architecture (gorgeous...).
(You are welcome to ask Prof. Google as for the details!)

Think Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé...Olympic games and two World Fairs...(should help to figure all the rest...)

[Eva Elisabeth]

Forgot - where in the UK did you live, Mick?

[AussieMick]

How about the statue of Columbus in Barcelona? By Rafael Atche?

I grew up in South London (close to Brixton), then Leeds in Yorkshire, then back south to rural Hampshire.

[Eva Elisabeth]

I used to love to go to the UK, especially London, but now I need more space and better climate - I think Australia is much nicer to live...

Mick, you are spot on as for Barcelona. Now try to find an architect who created seven UNESCO World Heritage sites and figure, which one it is that was paid by slave trade money...(actually there are at least two, but you should get it...)