Leif Eriksson is the first in
our list of Explorers of the Millennium. In fact, he was
born in Iceland around 975, 25 years before the beginning
of the millennium. He was a leader of Viking expeditions
and may have been the first European to reach North
America.
He was the son of Eric the Red, who
started the first European settlement of Greenland in
985. Leif went with his father to Greenland and lived
there until 1000.
In the year 1000, Leif sailed to
Norway, which is where his family had originally come
from. One story says that while he was in Norway, he may
have become a Christian. King Olaf I of Norway wanted
Leif to go back to Greenland and teach the Vikings there
about Christianity. As Leif was sailing back to
Greenland, he was blown off course and he ended up in
North America instead of Greenland.
Another version of Leif's story
says that another Viking, Bjarni Herjolfsson, had already
been to North America. Leif bought his boat and wanted to
retrace Bjarni's route. So he sailed to North America,
but not by mistake. He ended up in a place he called
Vinland. This was probably the part of Canada now called
Newfoundland.
Leif went back to Greenland, and
may very well have helped to convert the Greenlanders to
Christianity. Lief Eriksson died around
1020.
