Viking Explorer. He is remembered as being the first European to land on the North American continent, almost 500 years prior to Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World. He was the oldest son of Eric Thorvaldsson (commonly known as Eric the Red, most likely for his hair color). He was most likely born around 970 in Iceland, near Haukadal, where his father had a farm. According to the Icelandic sagas, his father was banished from Iceland for three years because of a blood feud and they relocated to Greenland and established the first permanent settlement on the eastern coast in 986. In 999 he sailed to Norway and became employed for a short while as an armed guard for King Olaf I Tryggvasson. A pagan, he soon converted to Christianity which Olaf had mandated for all Norwegians. He returned to Greenland with a Catholic priest for the intention of bringing Christianity to the colony. There are two different versions of how he discovered North America. One, recorded in the Saga of Eric the Red, he saw it for the first time after being blown off course on the voyage from Norway to Greenland and the other, recorded in the Saga of the Greenlanders (which is probably more likely), he learned of the story from voyager and merchant Bjarni Herjolfsson who claimed to have sighted land after being blown off course on a voyage to Greenland. Sometime around the year 1000, he purchased Bjarni's ship, gathered a crew, and set sail on an expedition to the new land. His father had planned on accompanying him, but declined when he fell off his horse on the way to set sail, which he interpreted as a bad omen. He followed Bjarni's route in reverse and landed first in a rocky and desolate place that he named Helluland (possibly present-day Baffin Island). Traveling further south by sea, he came to a forested place that he named Markland (possibly current-day Labrador). After another couple of days at sea, he landed in a place that he named Vinland, where he and his men built a small settlement and remained there over the winter. The following the spring, he sailed back to Greenland with a cargo of grapes and timber, rescuing an Icelandic castaway and crew en route, which earned him the name "Leif the Lucky." While he never returned to Vinland, his accounts encouraged others to make the same journey, including his brothers Thorvald, Thorstein, and his sister Freydis. He is last mentioned as being alive in 1019 and by 1025 his leadership of the Greenland colony had been passed on to his son, Thorkell. It is presumed that he died in Greenland sometime around 1020 and his exact burial location remains unknown. The geographical location of Vinland has been long disputed by historians as ranging from present-day Newfoundland all the way down the East Coast to Cape Cod. However, in 1960 archaeological evidence uncovered on the northern tip of Newfoundland known as L'Anse aux Meadows was identified as a Norse settlement, which gives credence this was the location of Leif Ericsson's Vinland. In 1964 the US Congress authorized and requested President Lyndon B. Johnson to proclaim October 9 of each year as "Leif Ericson Day." In 1968 the US Post Office issued a six-cent postage stamp honoring his historic voyage and discovery of the North American mainland.