1298: california Jun 30, 2018

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Looking at old map of the Americas, Spanish speaking colonists originally believed California (including Baja California) was an island, after sailing up only part of the Gulf of California. For a very long time, this was the accepted geography, and while there are certainly interesting cartographical ramifications, that is for another blog. What is relevant is that because it was considered to be an island by the Spanish, and the name 'California' was given based on a fantasy-island in the popular romance novel "Las Sergas de Esplandián'. In the island in the novel, the island was one east of Asia, and populated by black women, similar to the Amazons in this mythology way. This was not the case of course, but the name stuck.

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