Leif Erikson was born in the year 980. He was born in Iceland into a viking family.  He had a mother and a father and their names were Erik the red and Thjodhild and he had 3 siblings. But when he was born his father was convicted of murder and he was given to a man named Tykia and moved to Greenland with him in the year 985 there he was taught how to fight with wooden weapons. During his adult life he fought in a battle in London. Also he visited king Olof to switch his religion to christian he was actually forced to do this or else he would be kicked out of Greenland. When his father died he became chieftain of Greenland. And he had 2 wives and 3 kids. Later on in his life he became famous for being the first European to sail to North America about 400 hundred years before Christopher Columbus.  After he sailed to North America his siblings soon followed him and ended up in North America. When so many outsiders were coming  to North America the Natives did not like this so they attacked Leif Erikson and all his men and women. The same thing happened to his siblings and they fled from this new land. But Leif Erikson stayed there until his death at the age of 45. People remember him for being the first European  to sail to North America. Today he has his very own day on Oct 9th it was started in Wisconsin, USA in 1958.