More than 500 years before Columbus, Leif Erikson- son of Erik the Red- set foot on what he called Vinland, believed by most historians to be L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada.
According to the Saga of the Greenlanders, Leif and his crew were blown off course while sailing from Norway to Greenland. They landed instead in a lush, wild land with grapes, salmon, and forests- a sharp contrast to the icy world they knew.
Though their settlement was short-lived, Leif Erikson’s voyage marks the first known European arrival in North America, centuries before the Age of Exploration.
Also read: ON THIS DAY: The day that didn’t exist (1582)
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