EXPLORER

Leif Erikson

970 - 1020

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Leif Erikson, also known as Leif the Lucky (c. 970s – c. 1018 to 1025), was a Norse explorer who is thought to have been the first European to set foot on continental America, approximately half a millennium before Christopher Columbus. According to the sagas of Icelanders, he established a Norse settlement at Vinland, which is usually interpreted as being coastal North America. There is ongoing speculation that the settlement made by Leif and his crew corresponds to the remains of a Norse settlement found in Newfoundland, Canada, called L'Anse aux Meadows, which was occupied approximately 1,000 years ago. Leif's place of birth is unknown, although it is assumed to have been in Iceland. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Leif Erikson is the 5th most popular explorer (up from 25th in 2019), the most popular biography from Iceland and the most popular Icelander Explorer.

Leif Ericson is most famous for being the first European to discover North America.

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Among EXPLORERS

Among explorers, Leif Erikson ranks 5 out of 498. Before him are Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, and Vasco da Gama. After him are Amerigo Vespucci, Hernán Cortés, Ibn Battuta, Roald Amundsen, Bartolomeu Dias, Prince Henry the Navigator, and Zheng He.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 970, Leif Erikson ranks 1. After him are Pope Sergius IV, Pope John XVIII, Bruno of Querfurt, Fulk III, Count of Anjou, Oldřich, Duke of Bohemia, Al-Sharif al-Radi, Procopius of Sázava, Otto, Duke of Lower Lorraine, Conrad I, Duke of Carinthia, Åsta Gudbrandsdatter, and Sitt al-Mulk. Among people deceased in 1020, Leif Erikson ranks 1. After him are Ferdowsi, Al-Sijzi, Abhinavagupta, Manuel Erotikos Komnenos, Åsta Gudbrandsdatter, Melus of Bari, Trdat, Malusha, Gagik I of Armenia, and Ælfric of Eynsham.

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In Iceland

Among people born in Iceland, Leif Erikson ranks 1 out of 190. After him are Halldór Laxness (1902), Thorfinn Karlsefni (1000), Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (1930), Snorri Sturluson (1179), Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir (1942), Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (1943), Ari Thorgilsson (1067), Halla Margrét Árnadóttir (1964), Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir (1000), Björk (1965), and Ásgeir Ásgeirsson (1894).

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Among EXPLORERS In Iceland

Among explorers born in Iceland, Leif Erikson ranks 1. After him are Thorfinn Karlsefni (1000), Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir (1000), Bjarni Herjólfsson (966), and Thorvald Eiriksson (972).

Icelander born Explorers

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