Born on March 5
Gerardus Mercator's Birthday
The man who gave us the atlas.
Next: March 5, 2027
Where it comes from
Gerardus Mercator was born Gerard de Kremer, a shoemaker's son, in Rupelmonde in Flanders on 5 March 1512, and this Story marks his birthday. He studied at Louvain, learned to make globes and instruments, and became the most famous mapmaker of his age.
How it's celebrated
There is no formal observance, but his name is on maps all over the world, since the Mercator projection is still used for nautical charts. It is a good day to open an atlas, or to compare a Mercator map with a globe and see which countries change size.
Did you know
Mercator was the first to call a book of maps an 'atlas', after the figure of Atlas holding up the world shown at its front.
Read the full story of Gerardus Mercator's Birthday
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