Who first observed and named the Gulf Stream current off the eastern coast of the US? What were the circumstances that led to this discovery?
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Probably the Norsemen were the first to observe and "discover" the Gulf Stream as they would have encountered it when they tried to sail west from Northern Europe to Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland. It was around the year 1000 when they reached North America.
Southern European (documented) "discovery" of the Gulf Stream dates to the 1513 expedition of Juan Ponce de León, after which it became widely used by Spanish ships sailing from the Caribbean to Spain.
The name could only come about after the Gulf of Mexico had been named, because that is the gulf referred to in the name "Gulf Stream". The name is credited to Benjamin Franklin. Here is his map:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_Stream
Southern European (documented) "discovery" of the Gulf Stream dates to the 1513 expedition of Juan Ponce de León, after which it became widely used by Spanish ships sailing from the Caribbean to Spain.
The name could only come about after the Gulf of Mexico had been named, because that is the gulf referred to in the name "Gulf Stream". The name is credited to Benjamin Franklin. Here is his map:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_Stream