Controversial historian Gavin Menzies is claiming that this map from 1418 proves that the New World was discovered by China's Admiral Zheng He some 70 years before Columbus. But that's not the half of it.

Menzies, a much beloved figure among wingnut historians, just published a book titled Who Discovered America in which he lays out these and other remarkable claims — including the suggestion that Chinese sailors were the first to cross the Pacific Ocean over 40,000 years ago. It's the latest in a series of books in which he's pushed the rather outlandish theory that Chinese sailors discovered both New World continents.

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