Miller, Jeffrey wrote:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/books/01/13/1421/index.html
http://www.1421.tv/
NEW YORK (CNN) -- In his new book, "1421: The Year China Discovered America" (William Morrow) http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060537639/eogan-20 Gavin Menzies claims that a massive Chinese fleet of huge junks and support ships made a two-year circumnavigation of the globe, with extensive exploration of the Americas, nearly a century before Magellan and Columbus.
I thought that was fairly common knowledge -- not to mention that the Vikings made it to the New World even earlier. According to Jared Diamond's GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL, the Vikings routinely visited the New World between about 1000 and 1350, and even planted the Vinland colony in Newfoundland, which survived there for a while, until the Little Ice Age turned the climate to crap. The voyages of the Vikings, Chinese, and Amerigo Vespucci are all very impressive, but they all *quit going* after a while, kinda like the US and the Moon. ;-) Columbus' trip was different, because after he arrived, European presence in the New World became permanent, and never stopped. Columbus' timing was just better. ______________________________________________________________________ Steve Sloan ......... Huntsville, Alabama =========> [EMAIL PROTECTED] Brin-L list pages .............................. http://www.brin-l.org Chmeee's 3D Objects .................... http://www.sloan3d.com/chmeee 3D and Drawing Galleries .................. http://www.sloansteady.com Software ................ Science Fiction, Science, and Computer Links Science fiction scans ......................... http://www.sloan3d.com
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