Answer: First of all, let’s not ignore the fact that the Native Americans arrived in the Americas about 23,000 years ago. Even if these history questions and answers just focused on the first Europeans to arrive, Christopher Columbus still can’t claim the glory. About 400 years before Columbus sailed the ocean blue, Viking Leif Eriksson landed in Canada. (Don’t try arguing that his trip doesn’t count because it was in Canada and not the United States.) Columbus didn’t set foot on any of the 50 states during any of his four trips either—only Caribbean Islands and Central and South America. Other Spanish explorers were the first to arrive in what’s now the United States.
