Columbus Did NOT Discover America

Erik the Red discovered Greenland in 985, and his son Leif Erikson, equally ambitious, did not want to be overshadowed by his famous father. He had heard about Bjarne Herjolfson who had sailed out of course in 985, and seen a landmass not far away. He did not, unfortunately, go ashore to investigate. That would have made him the first white man to set foot on North-American soil. But he told people about what he had seen, and around the year 1000, Leif Erikson decided to sail across the ocean himself. He was around 30 years old. The journey did not take many days, but many ships were lost nontheless. They spotted land and went ashore. They would build a settlement that lasted at least 15 years, which means that, in all probability, the first white person to be born in North-America was a Viking.
They had at first a good relationship with the Native tribes, but after a while they turned hostile, and made any attempt to stay put even more difficult. The Vikings had to fight the "Skralingar" on terms that were anything but equal.
After Leif Erikson returned home, he became the ruler of Greenland. He died around 1021.

All this means that the Italian was actually the third person to "discover" the New World. Bjarne Herjolfson and Leif Erikson were there 300 - THREE HUNDRED - years before Columbus made his journey.
Leif Erikson should be the one who is celebrated, and be given his rightfull place in history as one of the most successfull discoverers ever.


Note -
I use the word "Discover" for want of something better, since you cannot actually discover a place where people have lived for thousands of years.