Columbus

Columbus was the first European to attempt to sail to China by sailing West across the Atlantic, but he never actually landed on the mainland of North America. Since the Americas were already populated when he arrived, at least one group of people had beaten him there. Archaeological evidence shows that several Viking expeditions reached North America and there are fringe theories of other Pre-Columbus visits to America. Columbus's trip to America is often claimed as a voyage of discovery. In many senses it was, but it was not the first trip to the Americas nor even the first European expedition. Humans first crossed to the Americas from Asia during the last Ice Age. About 30,000 years ago, a land bridge existed between Siberia and Alaska. These people can certainly be said to have discovered America quite some time before Columbus. But if you wish to overlook them, and they so often are, there were other discoverers of America.