In the first half-hour, archeologist Gunnar Thompson(1) discussed a 500-year old map(2) (pictured), made by a German cartographer, that was first to use the name "America." The map accurately depicts South America and the Atlantic and Pacific oceans-- yet Thompson noted that the Chinese made a similar map nearly a century earlier. The Chinese had access to telescopes, kites, rockets and flares for use in their mapmaking, he reported.

1. http://www.marcopolovoyages.com/
2. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/12/071204-map-picture.html