Around the year 1000, Norse explorer Leif Erikson, son of Erik the Red, sailed west from Greenland and discovered a land he called 'Vinland' (Land of Wine), now known to be Newfoundland, Canada. This event made the Vikings the first Europeans to reach the Americas, nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus. In the 1960s, archaeological evidence confirmed the Sagas' accounts when the remains of a Norse settlement were discovered at L'Anse aux Meadows. The site featured timber-framed turf buildings similar to those in Greenland and Iceland. Although the settlement was short-lived due to conflict with indigenous peoples and the extreme distance from Scandinavia, it remains a testament to the extraordinary navigational skills of the Norsemen.