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**Tattila the Hun** · June 3, 2006, 04:58

I wonder if many yanks could tell me, what was the first name of the explorer Vespucci...

**Geronimo** · June 3, 2006, 05:02

Originally posted by Tattila the Hun
I wonder if many yanks could tell me, what was the first name of the explorer Vespucci...

By "yanks" you mean US citizens in general or just "yanks"?

explorer? lol, I had Amerigo Vespucci pegged as a mere cartographer. It wasn't until you mentioned that he was an explorer that I became aware of that fact. So, given that I probably have an above average interest in history compared to the US general populace and I still had the details wrong I wouldn't doubt that most Americans would be unable to answer your question.

**notyoueither** · June 3, 2006, 05:05

Originally posted by Geronimo

these are good points. I just think usually they end up putting the cart before the horse so the students end up with mostly name recognition and less grasp of what actually happened and how. I don't advocate omitting the names rather just de-emphasising the "who" relative to the how and whys.

That's a good goal, but think about it.

History is just that, a story. The greatest stories maybe, because they are the stories of who we are and where we came from, but stories none the less.

Morality plays with the cloak of academic rigour. History tells us what was good about these people and why they triumphed, and what was deficient in those others and why they failed.

The writer will have a very large effect on the importance of the many hows and whys. Some writer will trumpet a factoid, some other later writer will dismiss that and focus on some other 'data'. The only common thing will be the whos. That is why the whos are important. They, and the dates, are the constants.

It is quite interesting to track the tales of the whos over time and how the factoids come into orbit and then are diverted out of the picture as if struck by a meteor (historiography).

**Lancer** · June 3, 2006, 05:14

Neil Armstrong is no Britney Spears.

**Wernazuma III** · June 3, 2006, 05:17

And why do we never hear of Michael Collins, the heroic man who had to suffer up there while the other two had a tete-a-tete with hot moon chicks?

**Wernazuma III** · June 3, 2006, 05:22

Originally posted by Geronimo

By "yanks" you mean US citizens in general or just "yanks"?

explorer? lol, I had Amerigo Vespucci pegged as a mere cartographer. It wasn't until you mentioned that he was an explorer that I became aware of that fact. So, given that I probably have an above average interest in history compared to the US general populace and I still had the details wrong I wouldn't doubt that most Americans would be unable to answer your question.

Actually, Vespucci wasn't a cartographer at all. The only connection to cartography is that Martin Waldseemüller, a German cartographer, decided to name the new continent after Vespucci because he had discovered -and spread via publication- its nature as "mundus novus" (i.e. not Asia).

**Serb** · June 3, 2006, 05:22

Re: First man on the moon.

Originally posted by techumseh
Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, is still alive, right? How come we never hear of him? He's just kinda disappeared. I don't remember anything about him for as long as I can remember. He might be considered in the ranks of Columbus or Magellan, yet he's almost unknown and uncelebrated. Does anyone else think that's strange?

That's because he's never been on the Moon.
The first man on the Moon will be Russian, somewhere between 2015-2020.

**Serb** · June 3, 2006, 05:23

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I'm nuts.

**Lancer** · June 3, 2006, 05:25

Serb may be right. I've seen pictures of the lander, strange stuff. Multiple shadows where there should only be one. Shadows going in different directions.

**notyoueither** · June 3, 2006, 05:31

Great! OT is about to become moonbat central!

**Zoid** · June 3, 2006, 05:36

Wikipedia has a fairly informative page on Armstrong.

And he seems to be a very private person, he´s sued a number of people for using his image and person in unauthorized ways. And doesn´t sign autographs since 1994 cause they turn up en eBay for ridicolous prices... He also sued his barber for selling his hair!

It´s no wonder he keeps a low profile when he´s being hounded like that. I would too.

**Darius871** · June 3, 2006, 05:50

Originally posted by Lancer
Neil Armstrong is no Britney Spears.

Touche.

**Geronimo** · June 3, 2006, 05:54

Originally posted by Wernazuma III

Actually, Vespucci wasn't a cartographer at all. The only connection to cartography is that Martin Waldseemüller, a German cartographer, decided to name the new continent after Vespucci because he had discovered -and spread via publication- its nature as "mundus novus" (i.e. not Asia).

yeah I saw that when i looked it up and it surprised me. It's funny that Martin Waldseemüller is such an unfamilier name by comparison.

**Geronimo** · June 3, 2006, 05:57

Originally posted by Lancer

Serb may be right. I've seen pictures of the lander, strange stuff. Multiple shadows where there should only be one. Shadows going in different directions.

Soviet dishes tracked the lunar mission tranmissions all the way from low earth orbit to stationary transmissions from the lunar surface and all the way back to earth. They didn't challenege the legitmacy of the landings because they saw for themselves that the landings were real.

**Lancer** · June 3, 2006, 06:05

They were in on it.

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First man on the moon.

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