Judy wong, age 12, of Philadelphia, pa., For her question:

Who is America named for?

Some people think that the new world should have been named for columbus, who discovered it. However, it was named for the explorer Amerigo Vespucci, and the name occurred almost by accident. Vespucci explored the shores of Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil between the years 149? And 1503. His maps and charts reached the map makers of Europe, who used them to build up a picture of the continent. They thought it only fair to name the continent in honor Of the explorer. The name America, for Amerigo, was placed on maps of South America.  Later, the northern land mass of the new world was also named America.