Joe History.......China Raises 800 Year Old Ship

Back tomorrow to continue the battle against evil, jihad, liberalism and all things Hillary....but first, this is cool, as in very cool ......A 100 foot long Chinese junk (ship), dating from the Southern Song dynasty, has been raised from the sea bed off the coast of China, as part of a hugely ambitious archaeological project. "It is hoped that the Nanhai will prove the existence of a marine silk road that linked southern China with Europe as well as Africa and Southeast Asia".

Folks are trying to make the case that the Chinese were in fact the first to navigate the world via ship. You may recall that the US Congress was able to obtain the Waldseemueller Map ( a map of the world) from Germany earlier this year (which was purchased for $10MM in 2003) so we can have it in the archives in the Library of Congress for display, this map was made in the late 1400's, someone charted the route that Ferdinand Magellan got credit for...in his journey in 1520. Who was it??

At the height of the Ming Dynasty, China's most celebrated mariner, Admiral Zheng He, sailed the world's largest wooden armada, nearly 300 ships, in an epic voyage of discovery and trade. 600 years later, in a small Chinese store, a copy of a 1418 map delicately drawn on bamboo paper is discovered, detailing Zheng He's epic voyages and the lands his expedition circumnavigated - lands that include the Americas, Australia and Antarctica. Three continents that history records were not discovered until many years later. Did Zheng He beat Columbus to America by 71 years? 1421: The Year China Discovered The World? is a fascinating and compelling documentary which is currently re-writing history. With in-depth investigations that delve deep into historical archives from around the globe, this extraordinary film re-traces the journeys of Zheng He alongside a wealth of evidence and contemporary historical accounts presented by modern scholars while examining bestselling author and historian Gavin Menzies remarkable evidence which sets out to prove that the Chinese discovered America long before Columbus. Part forensic investigation and part historical mystery 1421 is a fascinating, gripping and dramatic journey through a modern day controversy and into a brave new world.

Cool, fun and pretty fascinating stuff, at least I think so.