Who discovered America?

Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1942, but his ships were not the first from Europe to reach North American coasts. It is possible that Irish monks, or a Welsh prince, had crossed the Atlantic centuries before. Their voyages, if they ever took place at all, had been forgotten, and so had the voyages the the Vikings, who had settled first in Iceland, then in Greenland and finally in Newfoundland in the 10th century. Although Columbus was not the first European to reach America, his discovery is the important one.

The Vikings colony in North America did not survive long. They were too few and the Indians remained hostile. The Viking ships had no cabins, though the sail would make a tent and they slept in leather bags, three men to one bag for extra warmth.