A long time ago, before GPS and other apps were invented to help you find places and show you the right way, maps were your travel companion!
Many artists, historians and others had their own perceptions of world maps, and this resulted in what can be described as masterpieces of unparalleled creativity!
Others, on the other hand, had completely different perceptions and so private that no one would have imagined them!
In this article, we review the strangest maps of the world, which despite their strangeness, but they work well!
1-Map of the Bombardment of Small Boats - 1793AD
This map has just about everything weird! A rosy-cheeked British man, supposedly called John Paul, tosses boats straight at angry France!
Of course you can understand it just by looking at the map, it seems that John Paul was very angry about what was depicted in this way - disgusting - on the map!
2-California Island Map – 1533
In 1533, an expedition led by Hernan Cortes discovered a strange new land, California.
But before Cortes and his men of sailors could make a full exploration of what they thought was an "island"; They were forced to set sail, convinced that it was an island, and told all their comrades back home, who had told all their comrades, and so on.
Incredibly, another expedition didn't discover the truth until 1774. Of course, by this point, Cortes was dead and no one confronted him with that fact!
3-Fools' Hat Map – 1580s
Without a doubt, one of the most disturbing maps we've ever seen. It's called the "fool's hat map" and it shows, for no apparent reason, the court jester with a world map pinned to his face.
Academics have suggested that this map symbolizes the world's endless ability to do foolish things. Whatever that means, it's weird.
The map, for your information, is dated to the 1580s and is believed to be of Belgian origin.
4-Japanese Propaganda Map - 1904
In 1904, Japan was at war with Russia. Japan released a variety of propaganda poster maps around this time as Russia resembled a giant sleeping octopus.
The symbolism of the map and the depiction of octopus tentacles reaching Europe and Asia at around the same time was no coincidence!
5-Fixed Square Earth Map - 1893AD
The map was drawn in 1893 AD, and it is one of the notorious maps of the world for being blatantly contradicting scientific facts !
Professor Orlando Ferguson, who knew the Earth's sphericity and rotation very well, drew the map in order to disprove the theory that the world is shaped like a globe.
As a map, it failed predictably on a number of levels. None of the map makes any sense whatsoever. From the concave oceans, to the angels that lift the earth from the sides, to almost everything that makes no sense!
6-Clover leaf map - before the 16th century
In the past, it was common for mapmakers to draw Jerusalem as the center point of the world, while other notable continents appear on the sides of the map, like the one above.
The drawback to this map - besides being completely fictional - is the use of illogical shapes to represent Europe, Asia, and Africa.
7-Map of the world before the discovery of America - 1493
The funny thing about this map, apart from the multicolored mountains and incorrect shapes of the continents, is the fat little faces blowing the wind on the world, because apparently someone has to keep the ships moving!
8-Map of the old man riding on a fish
In the map, the fish is just a symbolic representation of England and Wales dated 1791, while the head of the fish is London, and the surrounding local counties.
The old woman's body and legs represent the Midlands and Wales, and her head is the North. Apparently the artist was bored with the one who painted Scotland and wrote the word Scotland instead.