Justin Andress
2. Christopher Columbus Discovered America
By this point in modern history, Christopher Columbus’ contribution to American history has been all but discounted. First and foremost, regardless of what you were taught in school, Columbus didn’t discover America. Even if you’re willing to give credit to a guy for “discovering” a continent that was already full of people to begin with, you still can’t heap that honor on Columbus. You see, Viking explorer Leif Erikson was actually the first European to set foot on the continent, about 500 years prior to Columbus’ voyage. Heck, Columbus himself shouldn’t even get credit for alerting mainland Europe to America’s existence. That honor goes to Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci, the guy who managed to reach the New World without killing a ton of indigenous people.
