It’s Leif Erikson Day, a day to learn about, and marvel at, the story of this Viking explorer, born in Iceland and thought to have set foot on the North American continent a good 500 years before Christopher Columbus. Want proof? Head to Newfoundland, Canada, where today’s photo was taken. Archaeologists discovered the remnants of a Viking outpost on the island’s north coast in 1960. L’Anse aux Meadows, as it’s now known, is a historic site open to the public, and the only solid evidence that Vikings were the first Europeans to land in North America, which they called Vinland.
A history of Vinland
More Desktop Wallpapers:
-
Punakaiki on South Island, New Zealand
-
One giant leap for penguins
-
It’s NASA’s 60th birthday
-
It s time for spring
-
Fall comes to Pando
-
Notes from an underground lake
-
Feature Attraction: 85 years at the drive-in
-
Honoring the rangers on World Ranger Day
-
Green is the new black
-
Antarctica Day
-
Happy Father s Day
-
A night on the (ghost) town
-
On the rebirth of the Olympic Games
-
A Portuguese fort takes a star turn
-
The ruins of a Maya superpower
-
All is silent for Big Ben’s musical milestone
-
Longtailed widowbird at Rietvlei Nature Reserve, South Africa
-
Jerte Valley in bloom
-
Cheetah mother and cub
-
Strolling across the Red Lagoon