Who discovered America and when?

Question

Who discovered America and when ?

Answer 1

I think you have to qualify the question.  People who first lived in the Americas even before it was called America were the first ones who discovered it. I dont know who were the first inhabitants.

Things written in books are just mere "discoveries" or previously unknown lands to those who were considered civilized during that time.  These facts are just from their standpoint.  

But if you are referring to discovery by exploration through voyages from Europe, I am not sure.

America was named after Amerigo Vespucci and the first one to demonstrate that the land area Christopher Columbus discovered wasn't part of Asia.

Sorry for my complicated explanation.

Answer 2

- Nomadic Asian hunters migrated to North America around 10,000 BC

- Vikings arrived in Greenland and Canada around 1000 AD but didn't leave behind any permanent settlements

- Christopher Columbus arrived in the West Indies in 1492 and set off the Age of Discovery in which Europeans explored and colonized the Western Hemisphere.

Take your pick.

Answer 3

If by America you mean "The Americas" (i.e. North or South America)

Gunnbjörn Ulfsson, who first sighted islands off Greenland, probably in the early 900s

Bjarni Herjólfsson, who sighted mainland North America (Labrador, Canada) around 986

Leif Eriksson, a Norsemen born in Iceland, said to have landed in North America (Newfoundland, Canada) around 1005.

The establishment of a Viking settlement at "L'Anse aux Meadows" has been proven beyond a doubt. The site has been named a UNESCO world heritage site.

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If by America you mean the area that has since become the United States of America the answer is Ponce de Leon who first sailed to Florida.

Answer 4

Vikings but I don't know when

Answer 5

Nomadic Asian hunters following the herds of animals or the post clovis hunters about ten to twenty thousand years B.C. Lets give them the credit they deserve, as much as the Vikings.