Wikipedia Trail "New Holland"

New Holland on an old globe (Source)

This Wikipedia adventure began as I encountered the phrase "New Holland" referencing a strange and unknown creature.  The only thing I could associate New Holland with was New Amsterdam (now known as New York) so I was quite confused as to what it could possibly refer to.
New Holland was actually the old name for Australia, called that way because the Dutch were actually the first discover and really map it out, not counting the Aborigines, unfortunately.  Referring to the island as New Holland was actually quite common for many years, with that denomination sticking until well into the 19th century.
Australia actually got its real name from the latin phrase "Terra Australis Incognita" which simply means unknown southern land.  It was a proposed landmass in the southern hemisphere that would balance out the excess of land in the northern hemisphere.  A kind of unknown land was actually drawn onto many older world maps, and when Australia was discovered and colonized, it was recognized as a kind of fulfillment of the theoretical Terra Australis, hence the name Australia.
One of the first men to theorize on this new land was an ancient roman scientist and writer with the sweet name of Macrobius.  He lived in the 6th century and was a prolific author, penning some of the most widely read treatises and fictional works of the time.  Much of his early life is unknown, it is theorized that he was born in a Greek colony to Roman parents, but the scholarship is unclear.  What is known is that he was a highly respected late period Roman author that also wrote the highly important commentary on a famous work, the Dream of Scipio.
 Somnium Scipionis or the Dream of Scipio was originally writing by Cicero but was soon translated into dozens of languages and remained highly influential throughout much of the middle ages.  It tells the story of a Roman emperor who has a dream and sees the whole universe as it moves around.  The earth is in the center of course, and each successive celestial body goes out further and further, starting with the moon, then the sun, then Mars.  Interestingly, in this hypothetical model, because each planet moves in a single, unchanging motion, it creates a sound, like any spinning object, and the sounds combine to make "The song of the universe."