Leif Erikson

Leif was the son of Eric the Red, the first man in Greenland.  He wanted to be a sailor.  He heard from a trader that a man had been blown off course and had seen three different pieces of land.  He also learned  that the man hadn't landed on any of them.  So he wanted to find them and explore them.  The first one he found was all rocks.  The second one he found was really rugged.  He found the third one and it was very beautiful and had lots of plants and trees.  He called it Vinland.  They built a settlement there and stayed for about a year.  Then they sailed back to Greenland.  They had a hard winter and his father died.  He had to sell all he brought home.  He never made it back to Vinland.  He discovered America about 500 years before Columbus.