Photo: "Chinese Columbus" Map Likely Fake, Experts Say

Email to a Friend << Back to Full Story


Antiquities collector Liu Gang unveiled this map in Beijing last week, saying it proves that Chinese seafarer Zheng He discovered America more than 70 years before Christopher Columbus set foot in the New World.

But cartographers and historians are casting doubt on the claim. One expert suggests that it could be a copy of a French world map dating to the 1600s.

Photograph by Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

MOST VIEWED NEWS

PICTURES: 2012 Doomsday Myths Debunked

2012: Six End-of-the-World Myths Debunked

APOCALYPSE PICTURES: 10 Failed Doomsday Prophecies
NEWS FEEDS    After installing a news reader, click on this icon to download National Geographic News's XML/RSS feed. After installing a news reader, click on this icon to download National Geographic News's XML/RSS feed.

Get our news delivered directly to your desktop—free.
How to Use XML or RSS

ADVERTISEMENT

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC'S PHOTO OF THE DAY

Today's National Geographic Photo of the Day

• Today's Photo

• Download as Wallpaper

50 Drives of a Lifetime

National Geographic Traveler has scoured the globe for the world's most beautiful, interesting, and off-beat road trips. Dive in to get drive directions, quizzes, photos, and more.