I think the person that's being described is Henry Hudson. He took several trips out to sea and successfully made it to the New World on his third one. I think New York was also called New Amsterdam under the Dutch, but I'm not certain.
No, it is false that the largest concentration of Somali refugees in the world is in the United States, since the largest concentration is actually in other parts of Africa and many are in Europe.
The region also had many sizable towns. Thus, northern Italy was urban while the rest of Europe was still mostly rural. Since cities are often places where people exchange ideas, they were an ideal breeding ground for an intellectual revolution.
\it contrasted with self reliance.
