Historian: Chinese Discovered America, Sparked Italian Renaissance
Six years ago, Gavin Menzies "caused apoplexy among historians with his controversial theory that vast fleets of Chinese adventurers in multi-masted junks beat Christopher Columbus to the Americas and mapped the entire world centuries before the European explorers." Now he contends that "the Chinese, once again sailing under the eunuch Admiral Zheng He, sparked the Italian Renaissance and that Leonardo da Vinci's inventions were directly influenced by Chinese technical drawings." The Telegraph (UK) 08/21/08

Posted August 20, 2008 05:29 PM