Calendar for October 9th, 2009

Leif Eriksson Day

When the Vikings, a group of seafarers from what is now Iceland Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, ventured far out into the Atlantic Ocean under the leadership of the Norwegian Erik the Red, they found a new land and named it Greenland. When Erik's son, Leif, sailed west from Greenland shortly thereafter, he landed somewhere in the vicinity of what is now Newfoundland. The exact spot of his landing is not known. Although Eriksson is not officially credited with discovering America, Congress has declared October 9 Leif Eriksson Day.