The winds of Atlantic exploration carry a materialised mystery around the Portuguese navigator João Vaz Corte-Real.

A prominent figure in the Azores during the late 15th century, Corte-Real is central to a fascinating historical claim: that Portuguese sailors reached the Americas decades before Christopher Columbus set sail in 1492.

According to local records and Danish-Portuguese accounts, he led a joint expedition to the far northwest Atlantic around 1472.

It is a truly interesting tale. German Pirates, Corte-Real, as well as Danish sailors supposedly, landed on a vast, timber-rich territory he called Terra Nova do Bacalhau (New Land of the Codfish). Believed by many historians to be modern-day Newfoundland.

While standard textbooks credit Spain's 1492 expedition with the discovery, this Portuguese narrative suggests an earlier, quiet mapping of the New World's northern shores. This legacy is even remembered in the stones of Avenida da Liberdade. What do you think?