Did Columbus really discover America?
He never set foot on mainland North America - and he wasn't first.
The answer
Christopher Columbus never reached mainland North America; his four voyages (1492–1504) landed in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. Norse explorer Leif Erikson reached Newfoundland around 1000 CE, nearly 500 years earlier, as confirmed by the archaeological site at L'Anse aux Meadows. Moreover, Columbus went to his grave believing he had reached Asia, and the continents were named after Amerigo Vespucci, who correctly identified them as a 'New World.'
Source: History.com
- exploration
- myths
- Americas
More from History & Civilization
- Who built the first known computer, and when?
- What were the Egyptian pyramids really built for, and who built them?
- How much knowledge was lost when the Library of Alexandria was destroyed?
- How did Genghis Khan shape the genetics of an entire continent?
- When did humans start cooking food, and how did it change us?
- What was the deadliest pandemic in human history?