Was Christopher Columbus Really the First to Discover America?

Who discovered America?

We have been celebrating Columbus day for centuries, in honor of Christopher Columbus' discovery of America. But did he really discover America?

Though the true discoverer of America is being disputed from all over, one thing that we do know is that Christopher Columbus in fact did not discover America.

There are claims all over of who should actually be credited with its discovery, but one thing we do know for fact is who the country was name by and after, Amerigo Vespucci.

Amerigo Vespucci was even credited for discovering America when it was realized that he had sailed and stumbled upon America before Columbus.

There is no scientific evidence that can say who in fact discovered America as there is so much conflicting information and evidence to say otherwise. The only thing that we do know for sure, according to all their records is that the Native Americans were here before them all... all except one group of travelers.

The Chinese claim that they were in fact the discoverers of America. There is a book written called "The year China discovered America" by William Morrow that claims that Zheng He discovered America in 1421. This is mainly based on a map that was found in a book store in 2001 that was based on an original.

Zheng He in fact did sail the Pacific and Indian Oceans from 1405 to 1433, with historical records showing exploration of Southeast Asia, India, the Persian Gulf and the east coast of Africa, with the British saying that he may have sailed even farther.

It is also said that when Zheng he visited America that settlements were left behind which may have beent he implantation of the Native Americans on our soil.

Others also say that that there was a crossing at the Bering Sea around this time that suggests that the Chinese came into America, again bringing on the population of Native Americans.

Many others also believe that the Vikings discovered America. It is said that Leif Erickson sailed from Greenland to America in an attempt to flee his father, Eric the Red and did so some 500 years prior to Columbus' arrival, in 990 A.D.

Some also say that monks and lay brothers of the ascetic Celtic Church sailed for Faroe in about 770 A.D. amd stumbled upon America, which prompted the Vikings to set sail for America some years later.

It is also said that the Hebrew discovered America in about 1000 B.C. It is said that there is evidence in New Mexico which has a dry creek bed that has engraved the 10 Commandements all in Hebrew. Also in 1989 an American explorer in Peru had discovered evidence that King Solomon's gold mines may have been there.

The unfortunate thing is that no one can really say which accounts are true and accurate, and which are just speculation. More research needs to be done to validate any of these stories.

One thing that we do know for fact is that Christopher Columbus did not discover America. But why do we still have Columbus day to honor the discovery? Is it because we don't have someone to replace his with, or are historians too lazy to figure it out? Why are children today still taught in school that Christopher Columbus discovered America? Children's heads are still being filled with fiction as matter of fact.

None the less, we all know someone happened upon here at one time, maybe one day we will figure out who that person was.