The biggest mistakes in mapmaking history

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Kayla Wolf |

TED-Ed

• May 2022

For thousands of years, people made both functional maps and what are known as cosmographies, illustrating the earth and its position in the cosmos, often including constellations, gods, and mythic locations. These maps were meant to depict the world's geography, but weren't necessarily useful for navigation and contained some glaring mistakes. Kayla Wolf shares mapmaking's biggest blunders. [Directed by Serin İnan, Kozmonot Animation Studio, narrated by Alexandra Panzer, music by Cem Misirlioglu, David Coltun].