As early as the 1700s, scientists and observers noticed a remarkable coincidence of shape of the atlantic coasts of africa and

South America.

The observation of the similar coastlines of South America and Africa eventually led to the theory of continental drift. This idea suggests that millions of years ago, the continents that we know today were part of one large landmass. Scientists called this "supercontinent" Pangaea. (See image: Courtesy of rutgers.edu) The theory of continental drift states that over time, the landmass broke apart and very slowly drifted away from each other to their current locations.