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Were the Vikings the first Europeans to reach North America?

Most scholars believe that the Vikings (also called Norsemen; peoples originating in Scandinavia, or present-day Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland) were the first Europeans to reach the Western Hemisphere (North and South America and the surrounding waters). The scholars base their conclusions on the Saga of Erik the Red, a collection of Norse stories. The Vikings were accomplished shipbuilders and sailors. Beginning in the A.D. 700s, they sailed throughout Europe, raiding towns in England, France, Germany, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Russia, and Spain. They arrived in the Western Hemisphere around 986, when Norwegian-born Erik the Red (c. 950–c. 1004) founded a settlement on present-day Greenland. Later, Viking leader Bjarni Herjolfsson saw the shores of North America after his ship was blown off course during a storm in the north...

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1. The Americas
   1. When and how did the first people migrate to the Western Hemisphere?
   2. Were the Vikings the first Europeans to reach North America?
   3. Were the Spaniards the first Europeans to reach North America after the Vikings?
   4. When was the first authenticated European landing in North America?
   5. Why did Spain authorize Columbus to search for a westward route to the Indies?
   6. Where did Columbus first land in the New World?
   7. Did Columbus make any important discoveries in the Americas?
   8. Why does controversy surround Christopher Columbus?
   9. Who were the conquistadors?
   10. What contributions did the Europeans make to the Americas?
   11. How did America get its name?
   12. How was Hernán Cortés able to claim Mexico for the Spaniards?
   13. Who was Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca?
   14. Who was Montezuma?
   15. What were the Seven Cities of Cibola?
   16. Who were the first Europeans to explore the Mississippi River?
   17. What were the Spanish holdings in the New World?
   18. What were the French holdings in the New World?
   19. What were the Dutch colonial holdings in the New World?
   20. Did Sweden have any colonies in the New World?
   21. What was the Lost Colony?
   22. Were the Pilgrims explorers?
   23. Were African slaves the first source of labor in the English colonies?
   24. What was the goal of the Lewis and Clark expedition?
   25. How were the Puritans different from the Pilgrims?
2. Outer Boundaries
   1. How old was Marco Polo when he began his famous journey to the Far East?
   2. Who discovered the southwest passage to the Orient?
   3. What is the Northwest Passage?
   4. Who were the first Europeans to sail around the world?
   5. Who was Hawaii Loa?
   6. Who said, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
   7. What did the famous Captain James Cook discover?
   8. Who was the first European to cross the Bering Strait?
   9. Who were the first people to reach the North Pole?
   10. Who was the first person to reach the South Pole?
   11. Who was the first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest?
3. American Expansion
   1. Who were the expansionists?
   2. How did the concept of Manifest Destiny influence the expansion of the United States?
   3. Why was the Cherokee Nation forced to walk the Trail of Tears?
   4. What caused more Irish people to emigrate to the United States in the mid-1800s?
   5. When did major waves of immigration to the United States occur?
   6. How many immigrants arrived at Ellis Island, and what did they experience there?
4. Air And Space
   1. Who was the first person to fly nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean?
   2. When did aviator Amelia Earhart disappear?
   3. When did the space age begin?
   4. Who was the first person to travel in space?
   5. Who was the first man to walk on the Moon?
   6. Who was the first woman in space?
   7. What was the first animal sent into space?
   8. What was the impact of the Challenger disaster on the U.S. space program?
   9. Why was the Mars Pathfinder project important?
   10. What new discoveries have been made by the Hubble Space Telescope?

1. Christopher Columbus