China Discovered America Long Before Columbus

A Telling Map

Mr Menzie's assertion about Zheng He's voyage to the New World isn't new - he first wrote about it in 2002 - but the map is. Mr Liu had the map authenticated by an appraiser from Christie's Auctions, who said that the document was 'very old' and was not a newly-made fake. After Mr Liu brought the map forward, Menzies also had a team of historians analyze every word on it. He concluded that it was originally written in the Ming Dynasty - a Chinese period that lasted from 1368 to 1644."

Mr Menzie's assertion about Zheng He's voyage to the New World isn't new - he first wrote about it in 2002 - but the map is. Mr Liu had the map authenticated by an appraiser from Christie's Auctions, who said that the document was 'very old' and was not a newly-made fake. After Mr Liu brought the map forward, Menzies also had a team of historians analyze every word on it. He concluded that it was originally written in the Ming Dynasty - a Chinese period that lasted from 1368 to 1644."

The Features of the Map

Map of Old and New Virginia - published in Dudley 's 'Dell' Arcano del Mare', 1646- 47. American colonies. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***

Map of Old and New Virginia - published in Dudley 's 'Dell' Arcano del Mare', 1646- 47. American colonies. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***

The map features some unique perspective:

Of course, Asiatic peoples were the first to cross the Bering Strait some 40,000 years ago.

"If you just go out in a plastic bath tub, the currents will just carry you there. They just came with the current, it’s as simple as that," says Menzes.

Looking Back

Stock Montage/Getty Images

Stock Montage/Getty Images

Christopher Columbus is heralded as the discoverer of North America, which is an idea that can be argued against in so many ways it boggles my mind. Can you really be considered the discoverer of a place that already has millions of human inhabitants? Either way, new research shows that the Chinese were present in North America 70 years before Columbus would accidentally stumble upon it.

Gavin Menzies, a historian considered controversial for not adopting the mainstream school of thought about America's discovery, claims that this map from 1418 proves that China's Admiral Zheng He discovered America decades before Columbus.