Martin Behaim (1459"-1507) fashioned a globe depicting the known world in 1492. In the twenty-first century the restored globe remained on display at Nuremberg, and is the oldest surviving relic of its kind on earth.

Martin Behaim distinguished himself as a skilled mathematician and astronomer during the late fifteenth century. In 1490 he accepted a commission to manufacture a terrestrial globe for his hometown of Nuremberg, Germany. The globe, which survived into the twenty-first century, is believed to be the oldest such artifact of its kind. Prior to constructing the globe, Behaim spent time in Flanders and Portugal. In Portugal he was favored among the mathematicians of King John II's court. Behaim then spent two years as a cosmographer on a sailing expedition along the West African coast, before settling briefly in the Azores where he founded a Flemish colony.

A Well-Traveled Merchant

Martin Behaim was born in Nuremberg, Germany...