Christopher Columbus will always be associated with the discovery of the New World by Europeans, but the history of transatlantic explorations goes much further back than Christopher Columbus arriving in the Caribbean in October 1492. About five hundred years before that, the Norse had reached the territory of Canada and started exploring from there. Their accomplishment was indeed astonishing, but it never served as a basis for any permanent presence of Europeans in North America.
Vikings’ traces remain archaeological finds, bits and pieces of written documents and questions that are being discussed by historians even today. As is evident from the report of BBC, Vikings' voyages uncover an overlooked episode of the history of the Atlantic, where bold exploration did not necessarily translate into any successful conquest.
