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[–] 29 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Nautical navigation is where the Mercator map is actually the most useful. Any straight line drawn in it stays true and any angles are preserved. That's why every nautical chart is done using a Mercator projection. It's just not so great when blown up to the size of the world, but that was never really it's intention.

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  • [+] -17 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    It was intentional as propaganda. During the Cold War, it made the U.S.S.R. look bigger and more of an imposing threat to the west.

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  • [–] 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    It was intentional as propaganda. During the Cold War,

    Nope. It is hundreds of years older that that.

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