who was the first european to reach what is now the us mainland
Exploration of North America Italian navigator and explorer Giovanni Caboto (known in English as John Cabot) is credited with the discovery of continental North America on June 24, 1497, under the commission of Henry VII of England. Though the exact location of his discovery remains disputed, the Canadian and United Kingdom governments' official position is that he landed on the island of Newfoundland. The English presence through Giovanni Caboto was signaled in Juan de la Cosa's map of 1500.
Hernando de Soto Hernando de Soto (c. 1495 â€“ May 21, 1542) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who led the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States (Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama and most likely Arkansas). He is the first European documented as having crossed the Mississippi River.[4]