Didrik Pining (ca. 1428 –1491) is claimed to have discovered America in 1473, almost twenty years before Columbus. Events October 12 - English forces under Thomas Montacute, 4th Earl of Salisbury besiege Orléans. ... // Events December 6 - King Charles VIII marries Anne de Bretagne, thus incorporating Brittany into the kingdom of France. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... Events Ottoman sultan Mehmed II defeats the White Sheep Turkmens lead by Uzun Hasan at Otlukbeli Axayacatl, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan invades the territory of neighboring Aztec city of Tlatelolco. ... Christopher Columbus (Genoa?, Italy, 1451? – Valladolid, Spain, May 20, 1506) was a navigator and maritime explorer credited as the discoverer of the Americas. ...

Biography

Didrik (also written Dietrich or Diderick) was a native of Hildesheim. Pining left his home at the age of 20 to go to sea. He first appears in history as a privateer in the service of the Free City of Hamburg, hunting down English raiders and merchant ships in the North Atlantic. Later, he was in the service of the king of Denmark. ▶ (help· info) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. ... A privateer was a private ship (or its captain) authorized by a countrys government to attack and seize cargo from another countrys ships. ... For other uses, see Atlantic (disambiguation) The Atlantic Ocean is Earths second-largest ocean, covering approximately one-fifth of its surface. ...

In 1471, Pining was appointed the captain of a German-led, Danish-sponsored, and Portuguese-financed expedition seeking a northwestern route to Asia. Pining sailed with three ships to Greenland, and then searched further south. He is said to have landed in 1473 on Newfoundland and Labrador, together with Hans Pothorst, also from Hildesheim, and the Portuguese explorers João Vaz Corte-Real and Álvaro Martins. The navigator was Johannes Scolvus aka John of Kolno from Poland. Pining apparently made other visits to Greenland, and in 1476 is claimed to have explored the mouth of the St Lawrence River. This article is about the year 1471, not the BT caller ID service accessible by dialling 1-4-7-1. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... Events Ottoman sultan Mehmed II defeats the White Sheep Turkmens lead by Uzun Hasan at Otlukbeli Axayacatl, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan invades the territory of neighboring Aztec city of Tlatelolco. ... Newfoundland —   (stress on final syllable; for mispronunciations, see Newfoundland travel guide from Wikitravel)— (French: , Irish: ) is a large island off the east coast of North America, and the most populous part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. ... This article is about the region in Canada. ... â–¶ (help· info) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. ... João Vaz Corte-Real Portuguese explorer (Canada) 15th century João Vaz Corte-Real (pron. ... Álvaro Martins, also known as Álvaro Martins Homem, was a 15th century Portuguese explorer of the western Atlantic and later the African coast. ... John of Kolno (also known as Jan z Kolna, Johannes Scolnus, Ioannis Scolvenius or Iohannes Scolvus Polonus) (1435–1484)—a semi-legendary Polish sailor and navigator serving for the court of Denmark. ... Events March 2 - Battle of Grandson. ...

Tantalizingly, Martin Behaim's globe of 1492 -- made before Columbus's return from America, shows islands to the south of Greenland. Had Behaim heard of these from Pining? Also, Portuguese maps from the late 15th century list Newfoundland as Terra Cortereal. Whatever the truth, Pining's expedition was simply forgotten, while Columbus went on to gain lasting fame.

In 1478 Didrik Pining became the governor of Iceland, serving for two years. He died in Vardø, Norway in 1491, at the age of 63 -- before Columbus had even set sail for the New World. County Finnmark Landscape Municipality NO-2002 Administrative centre Vardø Mayor (2003) Rolf Einar Mortensen (Ap) Official language form BokmÃ¥l Area  - Total  - Land  - Percentage Ranked 183 600 km² 586 km² 0. ...

Trivia

• A school is named for him in Hildesheim.

Sources

• Thomas L. Hughes: The German discovery of America. A review of the controversy over Pining's 1473 voyage of exploration. In: German studies review, Bd. 27, Nr. 3, Oktober 2004, S. 503-526

See also

• Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact

Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact is interactions between the indigenous peoples of the Americas and peoples of other continents – Europe, Africa, Asia, or Oceania – before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492. ...

External links

• Didrik Pining site in German
• Another Pining site in German
• Mention of Pining on exploration site
• Pining named on Newfoundland site
• Discussion of Pining's voyage from the German Historical Institute