Who was the 1st to discover America?

Today my class was in the Library doing job research and while waiting for the bell to ring I was looking at a book about the question stated and it included Columbus, Leif, and some Chinese guy. I'll have to check this book out but can anyone shed light on this subject? plus I've always wondered if the Phonecians couldn't have stumbled on American soil ages ago.

...American Indians?

Originally posted by pinguin Leif Ericson didn't discovered the Americas, he though he was somewhere in Greenland!

No, he didn't think he was in Greenland. Where are you getting all strange ideas from?

Originally posted by pinguin Are you sure? prove it he realize where he was

Is it so strange not to realize you're in Newfoundland when nobody you could possibily know Newfoundaland exists, and when Newfoundland isn't even called Newfoundland yet?

Originally posted by pinguin Not strange. Leif believed was just in another place more. Otherwise, it doesn't make sense Norse abandoned an hemisphere just because a little trouble. They have no idea what they have found, and period.

They had no need for it. What triggered the explorations and colonization was overpopulation in the 9th century, but in the 11th century there was no need for that anymore. Again you make conclusions based on your own imagination.

Well they named Newfoundland because it was NEW FOUND LAND! so yea he was in America and they have found Viking style building in the area.

Amerigo is why America is named America but he never set foot in the Americas.

Originally posted by Pinguin It is modern people that attributes Leif Ericsson with the "discovery" or the Americas. For him, Vinland was nothing more than a new post in an island that followed the logical chain of artic islands called Iceland, Greenland and "Vinland". Just the last "Thule".

You're wrong. It was nothing "logical" or "arctic" in Vinland/Newfoundland (would you call the latitude of northern US or northern France arctic????). True, they didn't call it America but it was acknowledged to be a different land from Greenland, so it invalidates your earlier point that Leif thought to be "somewhere in Greenland".

Originally posted by Mixcoatl Originally posted by pinguin Are you sure? prove it he realize where he was Is it so strange not to realize you're in Newfoundland when nobody you could possibily know Newfoundaland exists, and when Newfoundland isn't even called Newfoundland yet?

Hey St. Johns is my hometown...I am a Newfoundlander and dam proud of it. I have  been in the Nordic settlements in Newfoundland before. 

Also being First-Nations Canadian(for most ppl were called Amerindian)in the history of the Americas....my ancestors  travels here but the Asian continent and some from the European continent(many don't realize that there was also an ice path form Europe as well). The first Europeans we the Northmans and they settled in what we call now "Newfoundland" and they settled there for many reasons(wood, iron and escape for the law). Then soon after Columbus set out to discover a quicker trade route to east Asia and mistakenly found the Caribbean. So over time he rapes and committed genocide to the Caribs. And for the Chinese man...I have no knowledge of. The the true first powers of Europe came to claim the Americas...than the four of the mightiest one were  England, France, Holland and Spain. The Spanish controlled most of the Caribbean, the French controlled most of Canada, the English most the the USA and Holland had trade ports form New York to the Caribbean. I hope this can shed light on these arguments for everyone.   

Edited by The Canadian Guy - 24-Apr-2008 at 18:24

Originally posted by The Canadian Guy Also being First-Nations Canadian(for most ppl were called Amerindian)in the history of the Americas....my ancestors  travels here but the Asian continent and some from the European continent(many don't realize that there was also an ice path form Europe as well). The first Europeans we the Northmans and they settled in what we call now "Newfoundland" and they settled there for many reasons(wood, iron and escape for the law).