War has played a key role in the history of the United States, from the nation's founding right down to the present.

Wars made the United States independent, kept it together, increased its size, and established it as a global superpower.

Hi, I'm James Early, host of the Key Battles of American History podcast.

In each episode I discuss American history through the lens of the most important battles of America's Wars.

To start listening now, go to pathanonpodcast.com or search Key Battles of American History on your favorite podcast and platform.

The history of North America podcast is a sweeping historical saga of the United States, Canada, and Mexico, from their deep origins to our present epoch.

Join me, Mark Vinet, on this exciting, fascinating epic journey through time,

focusing on the compelling, wonderful, and tragic stories of North America's inhabitants, heroes, villains, leaders, environment, and geography.

I invite you to come along for the ride.

Welcome to the History Unplugged Podcast.

The unscripted show that celebrates unsung heroes,

Mythbusts Historical Lies, and rediscoveres the forgotten stories that changed our world.

I'm your host, Scott Rank.

Hi everyone, welcome to one of the in-between episodes where I answer any question you have for me.

Today's question is this, where did the sea monsters on the edge of medieval maps come from?

That's a good question, and it turns out that there are new resources out there that answer this question pretty well,

and that's where I got a lot of my info.

Two books that address this topic, one is called Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps by

Chet Van Duser, and Sea Monsters, avoids around the world's most beguiling maps by Joseph Nick.

It's an interesting topic, because if you've ever seen maps of the world from the 1200s, 1300s,

up to the 1500s and 1600s, first of all, you notice how geographically inaccurate there are,

because people simply hadn't come to those places yet, but you would also notice on the edge of the map

...