Written by Columbus really did sail the ocean blue in 1492. But he did not discover North America. That title belongs to Leif Erikson Day. Erikson’s party did not successfully settle North America, but their visit predated Columbus by about 500 years. In 1968, the US commemorated the visit with a 6 cent postage stamp.
Despite being ignored in US history classes for so long, the voyage was well documented even before the United States existed. It was first recorded in the 13th century Saga of Erik the Red. Later it was repeated in the 14th century book Hauksbók and the 15rh century book Skálholtsbók. Even after the book titled America Not Discovered by Columbus was published in 1874. Americans clung to the myth that an Italian and Spanish collaboration was the first European landing. It wasn’t until 1935 that Leaf Erickson Day was officially recognized by the US congress.
Oddly, even modern day fans of the Viking Age do not recognize the mission which led to the first European discovery of North America. Thanks to shows like the Netflix series Vikings, Christianity has been all but removed from Viking lore. According to the Saga of Erik the Red, Lief Erickson’s journey was for the purpose to spread Christianity to Greenland. A storm blew him off course. He landed on what he named Vinland due to an abundance of wild grapes.
Upon his return to Greenland, he was given the nickname “Leif the Lucky”. Christianity then spread rapidly in part because the Christian god was seen by many to be responsible for that luck.
This is not to say one religion is superior to another. It is to point out that believing the fiction that all Vikings were heathens is as misguided as believing Christopher Columbus was the first European to discover North America.